The Source of Your Test

“Some time later, God tested Abraham’s faith. ‘Abraham!’ God called. ‘Yes,’ he replied. ‘Here I am.’” - Genesis 22:1 
 
 
Continuing our discussion of Abraham’s endurance in Genesis 22, we see Abraham was willing to sacrifice his son whom he had prayed for and waited on God to bless him with. But now here he is, being told to sacrifice his son on the altar to God. 
 
This challenge in Abraham’s life reveals something about the source of some of our problems that I want you to consider. Verse 1 reveals that the crisis confronting Abraham is not an attack by the enemy. It is not an attack from his haters. It is not even punishment for anything he had done wrong.  
 
It is happening because God wants to test Abraham. That observation compels us to view our challenges through an entirely different lens. It forces us to consider the possibility that the storm we are in is not a plot from the enemy. Perhaps it is not a punishment for sins we have committed, but perhaps it is a predicament designed by God. 
 
That is what Job discovered through his ordeal. He assumed everything he went through was the result of sin he had committed; but we learn at the outset of the book of Job that what he went through was permitted by God. 
 
Don’t always assume, child of God, that your problems are from the devil, and don’t always assume it is because someone doesn’t like you. Perhaps the storm you’re in is just a test, and the Lord is the source of that test.  
 
Is God testing you right now? Are you going through something that is testing your faith, patience, or servanthood to Christ? If so, consider that it might not be a punishment, and it might not be a temptation. It might just be God testing you! Remember, you will always be better for it as He prepares you for what is next in your life!