HINDERED BY THE SAME TEST. By Pastor Fernando

Scripture:
Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil…
then the devil left Him; and behold, angels came and began to minister to Him.
Matthew 4:1,11

Observation:
The moment was familiar for Jesus as he felt how He was being led in to a place of temptation. He went trough the same tests many times before, and He was going to go be in the same situation in the future. His dependence in God’s Word and His obedience to it helped Him to pass any test. Interestingly the angels didn’t come to His aid until the test was over. Sometimes we want God’s intervention to either cancel the test or assist us while in the test. But Jesus knew that the victory over each tempting moment was preparing His heart for the greatest tests of all. He wasn’t going to be hindered in any occasion to fulfill His goal to go to the cross. He was waiting for God’s promotion that comes after every successful test.

This particular tempting moment occurred in the beginning of the Lord’s ministry on earth. He passed the tests of self-control, pride, and devotion to God, all very necessary to fulfill His mission from this moment until the moment of His death in Calvary. It’s like when in video games you need to pass the tests of the first level in order to be a good player in the second level, and so on until you beat up the game. Tests are not meant to destruct us but to train us in obedience and in the character traits necessary to accomplish God’s calling in our lives.

Application:
There are all kinds of tests that the Lord will guides us into in order to train us and teach us how to develop our new nature as children of God. Many tests will be easier according to our strengths. Many other will be difficult because they will deal with areas of weakness. These particular tests frustrate us because over and over again we hit the wall in the same situation. We become discouraged and beat up ourselves for our stupidity. These failed tests will send us back to the training grounds in the same level we have been for a while and will hinder us to move to the next level of responsibility and growth. Is this fare? Well, I guess it is. I know that God is faithful to test me in such a way that I can win. If I fail the test is not because the test is too hard, but because I did not use the correct strategy, steps, and attitude. He loves me so much that he will never put me in a level where the tests are going to be unbearable. He will always take me into places to set me up for success, not for failure.

But still, when failing a test, the first thing that comes to mind is that we are not able to pass the same test. That’s a lie whispered by the devil and echoed by our own flesh. We cannot allow the devil, who is the tempter, to hinder our growth and maturity by making us complaisant and comfortable with the tests we fail often. We must stand up, learn again the lessons that we applied poorly, and when the Lord guides again to the test, think, talk, and behave the way God has been preparing us to pass the test. The Holy Spirit is a good teacher. He will never test us in a subject He hasn’t taught us before. And if we forget the lesson and fail the test again, we have to repent and prepare again to pass the same test sometime in the future. Even if it takes us several years to pass the same test that hinder us, we must have the attitude of a winner. We are more than conquerors in the name of the Lord.

Prayer:
Dear Jesus, please forgive me for failing the same tests over and over again. More than anything, forgive me for reasoning my defeat with lame excuses and complacency. I truly want to pass this test that always pushes me back to start things all over again. Please help me to learn the lessons again, but this time help me to put into practice the strategy that will take me to pass the test and graduate to the next level of growth and maturity. Thank you so much for your patience, lovingkindness, and mercy over my life. Please let me be a conqueror in these areas of struggle. Wash my sin completely and let me be more like you. I love you Jesus. AMEN!