“For I am the Lord your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you.”—Isaiah 41:13, NIV
I had a teacher once who would surprise us with tests. Not pop quizzes, but during his lectures he would ask questions and evaluate our answers—then tell us later we were being tested. Walking into his classroom was a test.
It did no good to grumble and complain or cry, “Unfair!” He was determined that we understand the material and not just memorize facts and details for written tests. It was about life for him. He taught us to be better prepared.
Are you being tested right now?
The answer is yes.
Is it your health, your work, finances, family, or relationships? All the above?
When the children of Israel were traveling through the desert after escaping Egypt, you might recall all the miracles they experienced: Fleeing Egypt after Passover, watching the Red Sea part, manna from heaven to eat, bitter water turned to sweet water, a pillar of cloud by day and of fire at night manifesting the personal escort of God Almighty.
God had provided for them over and over again.
Once again, during their journey, they found themselves in a hard place. Stuck in the desert with no water, they complained to Moses, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst?” (Exodus 17:3).
Poor Moses is crying out to the Lord, “What am I to do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me.”
In spite of all God had done for them, the Israelites griped and complained and even questioned, “Is the Lord among us or not?”
They were so bitter and constantly murmuring day and night that Moses named the place Massah and Meribah, which means testing and quarreling.
God was forging a nation that would one day be a blessing to the world. God promised Abraham, “I will bless those who bless you…And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12:3). That’s a big promise—all the families. He needed a strong people capable of trust and faith.
On the maps of our own lives, how many places should be named tested and quarreling?
It doesn’t have to be that way. We have the best teacher in all of creation, who happens to be our heavenly Father. He wants more for us than knowing how to memorize the right, rote answers. He wants us to grow; He longs to build strength, trust, and faith into our lives. He indeed has not taken us this far through so much to leave us in misery.
He promises that He will take us by the hand and walk us through every trial of life.
We can trust Him to help us overcome and pass every test.
“Do not fear,” He says. “I will help you.”
