Have you ever noticed that God will often test us in the areas we’re strongest?
That’s a question Warren Wiersbe discusses in his book Abide: Understanding the Secrets of Living for Jesus:
“Satan tempts us in our weakest points to bring out the worst in us, but God tests us in our strongest points to bring out the best in us.”
I’d never really thought about it like that, but it’s true. We have God-given strengths, but we can be prone to rely on those strengths instead of relying on God, so God will usually test us in our strengths to remind us just how much we need Him and His grace.
God knows that after we’ve been through tests, we’ll learn to rely on Him and to more promptly go to His throne of grace where “we will find grace to help us when we need it most” (Hebrews 4:16 NLT).
I can’t think of a time when I need His grace more than when I’m in the midst of a trial and my endurance is being tested, can you?
That’s when His grace abounds and when He grows and stretches me the most, when my strengths are being strengthened as they’re being tested. If I rely on my strengths within myself, I’ll fail every time, but if I rely on His strength (which is strengthening my strengths), I’ll be able to withstand the test and bring Him glory.
“Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” - Romans 5:2-5 (ESV)
“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” - James 1:2-4 (ESV)
William Barclay comments on James 1:2-4 by saying, “All kinds of experiences will come to us. There will be the test of the sorrows and the disappointments which seek to take our faith away. There will be the test of the seductions which seek to lure us from the right way. There will be the tests of the dangers, the sacrifices, the unpopularity which the Christian way must so often involve. But they are not meant to make us fall; they are meant to make us soar. They are not meant to defeat us; they are meant to be defeated. They are not meant to make us weaker; they are meant to make us stronger. Therefore we should not bemoan them; we should rejoice in them. The Christian is like the athlete. The heavier the course of training he undergoes, the more he is glad, because he knows that it is fitting him all the better for victorious effort.” - William Barclay’s Daily Study Bible
When I think about the areas God’s been testing me in lately, it makes sense how He’s been “wearing me down,” so to speak, in that He’s been training me to stop relying on myself and what I’m naturally good at because I’m not strong enough to pass through trials without Him. Yet it’s so easy to handle things myself and think, “I’ve got this.”
“I’ve got this” is a natural reaction (in my flesh), but He wants “God’s got this” to be my natural reaction (in my spirit) so that I rely on His grace and not my own strength.
As I’ve become more aware of this, I’m noting my strong areas and paying attention to when they’re being tested so that I can practice going to Him first and receiving His grace to help me when I need it most.
Just to reassure us we’re in good company, Wiersbe notes a few examples from Scripture of people who had to learn this same lesson:
“Abraham’s strongest point was his faith, and that is exactly where the Lord tested him. God permitted a famine to come to the land, and Abraham went down to Egypt to save himself. He failed the test. Moses’ strong point was his meekness; yet he lost his temper one day and failed to glorify God. Peter’s greatest strength was his courage; yet he became a coward when confronted by a little maid who asked him about Jesus. Peter had boasted that he would even die with the Lord Jesus! He found out how weak he was and that, apart from Christ, he could do nothing.” - Warren Wiersbe, Abide: Understanding the Secrets of Living for Jesus
If Abraham, Moses, and Peter (just to name a few) had to learn to rely on God’s grace instead of their own strength, then we definitely do too.
PS - Wait, what?! Does God really test us?
When I talked about this topic with my community (join us here), a few people had never heard about God testing us and using trials to refine us, so if you’ve never heard of it or thought about it before, here are a few passages to check out.
The Bible clearly teaches that God does indeed test His children; it's how He grows us through the power of the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:3-5) and it's one of the ways He prunes us (John 15). His tests may even sometimes be tied to His discipline, which is one of the ways He shows us He loves us (Hebrews 12:6). While He may test us, God never tempts us to do evil (James 1:13).
The Old Testament is full of passages about God testing His children and refers to Him as the refiner. The New Testament also speaks of God growing us and strengthening us through tests and trials.
One of my favorite Bible characters to study while being tested in waiting seasons is Joseph.
“Until the time came to fulfill his dreams, the Lord tested Joseph’s character.” - Psalm 105:19 (NLT)
Daniel Estes notes of this verse, “The Lord used thirteen years in Potiphar’s house and in prison to stretch and to grow Joseph. The times of Joseph’s greatest difficulty were the times of his greatest development, as behind the scenes the Lord was hard at work accomplishing his plan and refining his man.” - The New American Commentary on Psalms
Here are a few more examples and passages on testing:
Genesis 22:1-2
Exodus 16:4; 20:20
Deuteronomy 8:2,16
Job 23:10
Psalm 17:3; 26:2; 66:10-12; 105:19
Proverbs 17:3
Isaiah 48:10
Jeremiah 9:7; 17:10
1 Thessalonians 2:4
Hebrews 11:17-19
James 1:12
1 Peter 1:6-9; 5:10
I hope this was helpful and encouraging!
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Hi! I'm Abigail, your real-talk Christian life coach and faith mentor. I believe we're on this earth for a reason, and I LOVE helping people realize and live that truth so that they can reach their God-given potential in all areas of life.
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