God tests us
You shall remember all the way which the Lord your God has led you in the wilderness these forty years, that He might humble you, testing you, to know what was in your heart, whether yo would keep His commandments or not. He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord. Deuteronomy 8: 2-4 [NASB]
1. Testing to know your heart
God wants to great things in your life. He has given many promises in our lives. If the promise is very great, we can assume that there is going to be great testing in our lives. This test is to know what is there in your heart.
In some other verses, we see God knows what is there in our hearts. “But Jesus, on His part, was not entrusting Himself to them, for He knew all men, and because He did not need anyone to testify concerning man, for He Himself knew what was in man. John 2: 24 [NASB]”. Then why does He need to test us again? By doing so, He will let us also know what there is in our heart. Thereby, He proves what we are inside our heart.
Now it came about after these things, that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.”. 2 He said, “Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and offer him there as a burning offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you.” Genesis 22: 1-3 [NASB]. God wants to test Abraham. He asked Abraham to offer his only son Isaac. This is a test to Abraham. Why did God do that? God knew Abraham very well. Then why did he try to test Abraham again? Can’t God know the heart of Abraham without testing? Yes, He can. But He tests. This is a practical test of God.
Let us see this verse: Then they came to the place of which God had told him; and Abraham built the altar there and arranged the wood, and bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 And Abraham reached out with his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son. 11 But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 12 He said, “Do not reach out your hand against the boy, and do not do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.” Genesis 22:10-12 [NASB]
God says, now He knows that Abraham fear God. When? After Abraham did not withheld his son to offer God. Only after testing Abraham, God knew Abraham that he fears God? Is it so? No. God knows everything that is in our hearts. Still, He wants to test us.
2. Why does He test us?
(i) To see Humbleness:
You shall remember all the way which the Lord your God has led you in the wilderness these forty years, that He might humble you, testing you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. Deuteronomy 8:2 [NASB] He wants us to have humbleness. He never likes if we think that everything that we have because of our own strength.
That is why we see in this verse: 17 Otherwise, you may say in your heart, ‘My power and the strength of my hand made me this wealth.’ Deuteronomy 8: 17 [NASB]. If this humbleness is not there in us, He will see this come into our lives. In this process, we will notice the testing method of God. He humbled them. He made them to be hungry and wait for his supply of food everyday. See this verse: He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord Deuteronomy 8: 3 [NASB].
(ii) Whether we are obedient to His word/commandments ?
This is what we see in the life of Abraham. He asked him to offer his son Isaac. Abraham obeyed the word /commandment of the Lord and was ready to offer his son Isaac. God tested this obedience in Abraham even after Abraham had his good relation with God for more than 30-40 years(approximately).
Same thing can be seen in this verse: You shall remember all the way which the Lord your God has led you in the wilderness these forty years, that He might humble you, testing you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. Deuteronomy 8:2 [NASB].
(iii) Before we are going to have great things from the Lord.
God tested Abraham and once again confirmed His great promise with Abraham. At this stage, look at what God told Abraham: and said, “By Myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this thing and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand, which is on the seashore; and your seed shall possess the gate of their enemies. Genesis 22: 16-17 [NASB]
Similarly, now God is going to give the promised land to his people. The promised land is having so many good things for them. Therefore, He tested them. Humbled them. He made them to understand this for 40 years in the wilderness. Before they are going to possess this promised land, God tested them. God gave the description of the Land. 6 Therefore, you shall keep the commandments of the Lord your God, to walk in His ways and to fear Him. 7 For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, flowing forth in valleys and hills; 8 a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and honey; 9 a land where you will eat food without scarcity, in which you will not lack anything; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you can dig copper. Deuteronomy 8: 6-9 [NASB]
Conclusion:
Before God is going to give us a great blessing, He may test us. This test may be severe. This test is to see/prove humbleness, obedience in us practically. Though He knows our heart, what there is in our hearts, He may prepare tests for our lives for our good.