6 Signs That God Is Testing You Right Now

Every test you're going to go through in life is already in this book. And if you study this book, then you're going to see from the characters in this book how to pass each test. God's number one goal in your life is to make you like Jesus. God's goal on on earth is not to make you happy. God's goal on your life is to grow you up to spiritual maturity. Happiness comes from holiness. And and in heaven, you're going to be happy for trillions and trillions of years. This is the growing stage. This is the development stage. Not everything works perfectly, and not everything goes the way you want it to go, because God is much more interested in your character than he is your comfort. So, you don't shouldn't expect everything to go right in this life. It's not going to. God wants to grow your character. He wants you to make you spiritually mature. He doesn't want you to be a spiritual baby all your life. And he wants you to grow up. And our model, of course, is Jesus Christ, who was love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, self-control. He was the fruit of the spirit. And he he's our model for for spiritual maturity.

Now, one of the ways, one of the ways that God grows you up is by testing you. You know, when when you work out in a gym, you you test your muscles by lifting weights. And the more weight you can lift, uh, the more it tests your muscle, the more it grows your muscle. And God builds your character the same way, through a series of tests. And those tests test your faith. They test your character. They test your patience. They test all kinds of things in your life.

Now, the good news behind that is that there's a purpose behind every problem in your life. Problems are not simply arbitrary. Problems are not simply by chance. The problems that come into your life are there to test your character, to grow your character, to grow your faith, to help you become all that God wants you to be, the man God wants you to be, the woman God wants you to be. So, every problem has a purpose, and it's designed to help you grow.

Now, we know that from what the Bible says there at the top of your outline, James chapter 1, it says this: "Whenever troubles come your way, whenever troubles trouble comes your way, let it be an opportunity for joy." Huh? Oh. Oh, I got another problem. I'm happy. "Whenever trouble comes your way, let it be an opportunity for joy." Now, if it just stopped there, that wouldn't make any sense. But then it gives you the reason for the joy. "Four, when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So, let it grow. Let it grow. For when it is fully developed, you will be," read it with me, "strong in character and ready for anything."

I want you to be strong in character. I want you to be ready for anything that happens in life that you're able to handle. You are resilient. You are responsible. You are strong. You're a strong woman. You're a strong man because you have strength of character, and you have you're ready for anything because your faith is tested. Now, notice those two phrase. I want you to circle the phrase "faith is tested" and circle the phrase "strong in character" and draw a line between those two because they go together. The way you become strong in character is to have your faith tested. God uses the conflicts and the problems and the pressures and the trials and the difficulties and the disasters and the dangers and the difficult dead ends and the disappointments. He uses all of it to test your faith and to grow you strong in character. And if you intend to be uh the man or the woman God wants you to be, God will test your faith.

Now, what I'm going to do today is just take you through six of the many tests you're going to go through. Fortunately, God wants you to pass the test. Okay? He wants you. So, he gives you the answers in advance. Didn't you always like those open book tests where you go, you know, the answers are right there. All you've got to go do is look it up. Well, the answers are all right here. They're in this. This is the answer book for all the tests of your life. And and God gives us many examples in the Bible to prepare us for the many different kinds of tests. Every test you're going to go through in life is already in this book. And if you study this book, then you're going to see from the characters in this book how to pass each test.

Now, all we have time for today is to go through uh about five or six of these different tests. And we're going to use three different characters of the Bible: Noah, uh, Abraham, and Moses. Three guys you've all heard of, and they went through tests. And you're going to go through those exact same tests. These six tests, I've been through them dozens of times in my life. You have, too. You may not even realize it was a test, but you have been going through these tests over and over in your life. Now, good news, as I said, God wants you to pass the test.

Now, let's start with this first guy, Noah. The Bible tells us that when God created the earth, it was perfect. There were no problems. There were no sorrows, no sin, no sadness, no suffering, no tears, no trials, no temptation. It It was just a perfect place. It was Eden. But man messed it up. And the longer man went along, we started having pollution. We started having problems. We had conflict. We had wars. We have injustice. We have racism. We have all of these problems uh in life. We have sexual abuse and and all the God didn't start any of these things. Man started murder. Man started jealousy. Man started uh uh you know cheating and and dishonesty and adultery and all these different things. Anyway, the world got worse and worse and worse until the Bible says God was so grieved that he had even made the earth because it was going in the wrong direction. And he said, "I'm just going to start over." And when he looked down on the earth, the Bible says the earth was so evil, he could only find one guy. He'll only find one righteous guy in the entire planet. And the guy's name was Noah. And the Bible tells us that Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. I'm I'm grateful uh for Noah because if it weren't for him, none of us would be here.

Now, when we talk about, by the way, racism and race, really, there's only one race. It's the human race because we all came from Noah. Every one of us here came from Noah. And after the flood, his son spread out all around the world and and started at different cultures and different things like that. But we're all from No, we all have all of our blood bleeds red. None of you bleed green blood. Okay? We may look different on the outside, but on the inside, we're really all the same because we all came from this one guy, Noah, who obviously came from Adam.

Now, imagine if you are this guy Noah, or you're his wife, or you're one of his kids, and you know the world's a pretty evil place, and God comes to your dad or your husband and says, "I'm going to start over. I'm going to wipe out everything. I'm going to flood the earth, and I want you to build a big boat. We're going to call it an ark. And I'm going to bring all the animals to you, and you're going to put your families and your and all these animals on an ark, and we're just going to start over." You. Would you believe that? Would you think, "Am I hearing right? What? What are you talking about?"

Now, this is the very first test. Write this down. You're going to go through a kind of test like this in your life many, many times. And it is a new task. A new task or a new dream. God's gonna come to you and say, "Here's what I want you to do," or "Here's what I'm asking you to do," or "Here's what I'm telling you to do." And it could be so big that it just seems impossible. It's a impossible dream, or it's an impossible task. I call this the "What" test because when God comes to you and talks to you and says, "Here's what I want you to do," you go, "What? Mwah. Me? No way. You got the wrong guy. I think that person lives down the street. What?" That's the "What" test in life. When God asks you to do something that's so new or so difficult, you don't you don't you don't even imagine yourself doing it.

And here's what the Bible says in Hebrews chapter 11. And all the verses today are out of Hebrews chapter 11. "It was by faith that Noah built an ark to save his family from the flood, and he obeyed God who warned him about something that," notice this, "had never happened before." The Bible tells us that up to this time, it had never rained on Earth. That's why they'd never seen a rainbow. It had never rained. The Bible tells us that that a mist came up from the ground at night, kind of like dew, a condensation. And there was some kind of condensation that happened in the earth um that that watered all of the um the the animals and all of the vegetables and all the plants. This is why before the flood people lived a whole lot longer. The atmosphere changed. People lived 200, 300, 400 years. I think God did that intentionally so they'd have lots of kids to populate the earth. But after all of a sudden after the flood, uh, the birth, uh, that the age starts going down, and that people aren't living as long. Something changed in in the environment, in the firmament, in the in the climate, in in that environment. But notice it says there, "it had never happened before." When you have this first test, it's going to be when God comes to you and says, "I want you to do this." Now, it may not be build an ark, but it's something, number one, you've never done before, and number two, it seems impossible. That's the "What" test. What? Are you kidding me? You're going to go through the "What" test? You've never done it before, or it is uh it seems impossible.

Now, what is faith? This is a test. Write this down. Faith is facing the future without knowing what. Faith is facing the future without knowing what. Noah built an ark by faith. And in Hebrews 11:1, it says, "Faith is being sure of what we hope for and being certain of what we do not see." Faith is facing the future without knowing what's going to happen. And you've got this big task, this new task. It's impossible. You've never done it before. You're going to have that test many, many times in life. God will ask you to do something you've never done before.

Number two, here's the second test: A major change. A major change. First, a new task. The second is a major change. And I call this the "Where" test. Where are we going, Lord? Where are we going with this one? And you you have a major change upset in your life. A good example of this kind of test is the guy named Abraham. And the Bible tells us in Hebrews 11:8-10, "It was by faith that Abraham obeyed. When God called him to leave home," see, this is a big change, "to leave home and go to another land. He's going to make a major move that God would give him as an inh his inheritance. And he went," notice, "without knowing where." Circle the "where." This is the "Where" test, without knowing where he was going.

Now, Abraham is a guy who lived at a city called, which is in the Kaldis, over in the Iraq uh Iran area. The Caldis. How'd you like to live in? Where are you from? Oh, sorry. You had gas. Where are you from? You burped again. Okay. Abraham lived in the city, big city called. And God says, "I've picked you out, and I'm going to make you a great nation, but I'm not not going to make you a great nation here in the Iraq area. I I'm going to move you over to the Palestine area, to the Israel area, and and I want you to get ready to move." Now, this is an especially difficult move, a major change for Abraham. Why? First, he's 75 years old. When when he's ready for social security, God says, "Get ready for social insecurity." When he's ready to hang it up and slow down and play golf, God says, "Take it down, put it on, get ready for the adventure of your life." At age 75, that's not really when you're getting ready to start your greatest adventure in life. Okay? But this is a major change. At age 75, he's ready to retire. God says, "I'm ready to inspire." You're getting ready to move into your greatest victory in life after age 75.

Now, Abraham had a lot to move because the Bible tells us he was a very wealthy guy. So, he had years of accumulation. He had a lot of cattle. He had a lot of sheep. He had a lot of goats. He had a lot of family. He had a lot of people working for him, lots of people, employees. And and God says, "I'm going to move you to a new country." And Abraham says, "Where are we going?" He says, "I'll let you know." He said, "How will I know when I get there?" He said, "I'll let you know." He said, "W what direction?" I said, "Just head that way." And and and how long's it going to take? "I'll let you know." Would you move? If God said, "I'm not going to tell you where you're going, how long it's going to take, where you're going to end up, what it's going to be like. Just trust me." This is the second test of life. A major ta uh change. The test of life is the "Where" test. Imagine how how long is it going to take? "I'll let you know." It's totally on faith. Abraham by faith obeyed God to leave home and go to another land. Would you would you do that? You're going to be tested by God when he's going to say, "I want you to go that direction." You go, "Where?" "Head that way." "What's at the end?" "I'll let you know." This is a test. Some of you are in the "Where" test of life right now. Some of you are in that first test. Okay. What? But some of you are in the "Where" test. And the "Where" test is God saying, "I'm going to move you, and you don't know where yet." That is a test of your character, to test your faith.

Now, write this down. Faith is following God's leading without knowing where. Faith is following God's leading without knowing where. Sometime God might say, "I want you to quit your job." "Well, what's the new job?" "I'll let you know." "I'm gonna I want you to sell your house." "Where are we going to move?" "I'll let you know." That is the second test of life. The "Where" that builds your character. The "What" and the "Where." The new task and the major change. Faith is following God's leading without knowing where.

So Abraham does this, and he packs up all of his wealth and all of his cattle and camels and sheeps and goats and employees and family and grandkids and every heads off that direction having no idea where he's going. He eventually uh gets to Canaan, uh, but still when he gets to the land, uh, he doesn't get to settle down. In fact, he has to live in tents the rest of his life. And that leads me to the third test. Write this down. The third test you're going to have in life is a delayed promise. You can count on this one, folks. God has over 7,000 promises in the Bible for you. He is not guaranteed to fulfill every one of them instantly. I've told you this before. God is not a vending machine where you put in the prayer and pull the promise button and you get everything instantly. If you did, it wouldn't require any faith. If every prayer of yours was instantly answered, it I you'd think God was your genie. Your wish is my command. God is not your genie. You don't God doesn't work for you. You work for God. God is not your genie. He has made all these promises, but he has all of eternity to fulfill them. Some of the promises that God has made to you are not even going to be filled here in this lifetime. They're going to be fulfilled in eternity. He's got all of heaven and eternity to fulfill them. But the delayed promise is what I call the "When" test. First you're going, "What, Lord, what?" Then you're going, "Where, Lord, where?" And in this one you're going, "Lord, when? When are you going to answer my prayer? When are you going to hear me? When are things going to change in my marriage? When am I going to get married? When am I going to uh graduate? When am I going to have a baby? When am I going to get that promotion?" It's the "When" question of life. That's the third test. You're going to go through the "When" test many many times in life.

Hebrews 11:8-10 says this: "Even after Abraham reached the land, God had promised him he lived there by faith. For he was like a foreigner living in a tent." He couldn't even settle down. He's living in a tent, moving around the country God had said, "I'm giving you." And by the way, he says, "So did Isaac and Jacob." That's his son and his grandson. So for three generations, they're kind of like nomads. Even though God said, "I'm giving you this country called Israel. Uh you're not you're not going to get it in this timetable." Even living in a tent, "so did Isaac and Jacob, to whom God gave the same promise. Abraham did this because he was confidently looking toward forward to a city whose eternal foundations, a city designed and built by God." Now, in that verse, I want you to circle the word. It's in caps. Promise. Circle the word promise. It's used twice, and this is a very important word. It was promised to him, the same promise. God wants us to base our lives on promises, not explanations. If you ever understand that, you're going to take a giant leap in your character and a giant leap in your faith. God wants you to build your life on his promises, not his explanations. God doesn't owe you an explanation for anything in your life. God is God, and you're not. And God is not going to explain why everything happens and when it happens and how it happens and the reasons and all per God doesn't owe you an explanation for everything. He wants you to trust his promises, not wait for explanations.

Now, God had promised him this land of Israel, but after he gets there, there's this delay in transfer of ownership. And I'm sure Abraham is constantly going, "When, Lord, when? You gave me this promise. When are you going to fulfill? Is it time yet? Is it time yet? It time yet?" He lives in tents for three generations. That's a long wait. He's unable to settle down. The Bible calls him a stranger in his own country. You may be in this test right now, the "When" test, where you've been waiting for an answer, and there doesn't seem like there's any end in sight. You're going, "When? When, Lord? When are you going to take care of this problem? When are you going to take care of this issue? When are you going to take care of this relationship? When are you going to take care of my finances? When are you going to take care of my health? When are you going to take care of my future?" And you're just going, "When, Lord, when? Not what, not where, but but when?" I want you to write this down. Faith is waiting for God's timing without knowing when. Waiting for God's timing without knowing when.

Now, here's the fourth test. Here's the fourth. These are many, many tests, but I'm just covering a few this weekend. Number four is an unsolvable problem. Now, you've all had this one. And this is what I call the "How" test. You get a problem, and you go, "How in the world are we going to solve this one?" This is a test. Now, God told Abraham that not only was he going to move him to a new country and give him this land and he would be the father of a great nation, he he told him that he was going to have h a kid that would have more kids, would have more kids, more kids and and they would populate it. That he was not just giving him land. He was going to give him as his heritage a great nation. They were all going to come from Abraham. Now, remember, he's 75 years old. When God tells him this promise, he moves to the land of Canaan, which is going to be called Israel. And while he's there, he keeps waiting for his wife to get pregnant. And by age 99, he still doesn't have a son. Uh, this is what you might call an unsolvable problem. Now, it is physically impossible for him, Abraham, and his wife Sarah to have a problem. It's physically impossible. This, how in the world are we going to have a baby? I'm I'm I'm 99. Okay. Sarah's a little bit younger, but uh but Abraham's 99 years old. Goes Abra the Bible says Abraham looked at his body and said, "No way, Jose." Sarah looked at Abraham body said, "Yeah, double no way with you and me." Okay, th this isn't gonna happen. And the Bible says when God said, "You're gonna have a baby." And Abraham's 90 years old. It says Abraham laughed. And it said Sarah laughed. And so when they actually did get pregnant and had this baby, they named him Isaac, which means laughter because Isaac was God's joke to the world. You know, Abraham's now 100 years old, and he's the father of his first child. Now, God had changed his name from Abram to Abraham, which means father of a great nation. How'd you meet? How'd you like going into a restaurant say uh sir uh what's your name? "A father of a great nation." "How many kids you got?" "None." "How old are you?" "A hundred." It's kind of embarrassing. God gave him the name way in advance. But they laughed laugh. God had the last laugh. We know that Sarah when God told her she was pregnant uh that she didn't believe it because she laughed. And the truth is any woman who was 75 and told she's pregnant and believed it would not laugh. She'd cry. Sarah did not cry. She She laughed. What a joke. You know, I got to tell you this story. Fred Katric is a famous uh preacher. He's now in heaven uh back in the South. He overheard a conversation one time uh in a restaurant between a 75-year-old waitress and and an older man. And and the older man said to the waitress, "Anna, can I walk you home tonight?" And she said, "No." He said, "Well, why not?" Cuz she said, "Because I then would become great with child." He goes, "Anna, you're too old. You're too old." He said, "Well," she said, "Well, Sarah had a child at 75." He goes, "How is that possible?" He said, "She believed in the man upstairs." He said, "Well, if I were a woman, I wouldn't believe in the man upstairs." But sometimes God does what I call an unsolvable problem. This is the "How" test.

Hebrews 11:11 and 12 says this: "It was by faith that Sarah together with Abraham was able to have a child. This was an unsolvable problem. Even though they were too old and Sarah was barren, Abraham believed that God would keep his promise. And so a whole nation came from this one man, Abraham, who was too old to have any children, but a nation with so many people that like the stars of the sky and the sands of the seashore, there's no way to count them." God had the last laugh. Here's the fourth thing I want you to learn. Write it down. Faith is expecting a miracle without knowing how. That's what faith is. I'm teaching you today what it means to have faith. Faith is facing the future without knowing what. Following God's leading without knowing where. Waiting for God's timing without knowing when. Expecting a miracle without knowing how. That is the test of your character. That is the test of your faith.

Let's go on to the fifth test. The fifth test is also in Abraham's life, and it is a senseless loss. A senseless loss. When you have a loss in your life that makes no sense at all, it seems irrational. It seems illogical. It doesn't make sense. And this, of course, was the ultimate test. The ultimate test in Abraham's life. And I want to tell you, friends, it will be yours too. This will be the ultimate test in your life. A a senseless loss. A lot of what happens in life, friends, it just doesn't make sense. And when we look for an explanation, we're not going to find one. A lot in life just doesn't make sense. You spend your whole life thinking that if I get an explanation, then I'll feel better about this loss. You won't. If my wife were to drop dead tonight and I knew why, I knew the explanation, it wouldn't make it any less painful. Explanations never comfort. What you need when you're in pain, what you need when you've had a major loss, is you need the presence of God, not the explanation of God. Explanation will not make it any less painful. So, stop looking for the why. What you need is simply God's presence in your life. A lot of what happens in life doesn't make sense.

Now, God, after Abraham had had this miracle baby at 100 named Isaac, Isaac is now a young man. And God says one day, "I I want you to sacrifice your son to me." Now, this seems so unheard of. It seems so brutal. It seems so bloody. It seems so nonsensical. Why would God ask me to sacrifice the very son that he gave me through a miracle? This is a test. God knows what he's doing. He's testing Abraham's faith. God is not a cruel God. God is not a capriccious God. God is not a a mean God. Abraham knew that. And so he's going to obey, knowing that God's going to do something about it because I know God is not that kind of God. But this is the ultimate test. Isaac represented everything God had given Abraham. If his son dies, there's no future nation. Now our response to this when we look at it from the outside, this is unfair. Have you ever said that in life? "It's not fair." Well, let me tell you something, folks. Life is not fair. Who said it was fair? This is not heaven. This is earth. Life is not fair on earth because it's filled with sin and sorrow and suffering and evil and your choice. And you do things that aren't fair, and everybody else does too. God can make life very fair just take away our freedom of choice. But God asked him Isaac to sacrifice his own son. And our response is shock. How in the world could God even ask Abraham to do this?

In verses 17 and 18 of Hebrews 11, it says this: "It was by faith that Abraham offered Isaac as a sacrifice. When God was testing him, Abraham, who had received God's promise, was ready to sacrifice his only son. Even though God had promised him Isaac is the son through which your descendants will be counted." This is one of the most gripping stories in scripture. Abraham is trusting the goodness of God. Said, "God's going to figure out a way." This will be the most gut-wrenching test in your life. When God says, "The dream I've given you, do you love the dream more than me, or do you love me more than the dream? Do you trust me?" If you love the dream more than you love God, you've made the dream an idol. Now, God is a good God. And we know there are many layers to this story. The fact God had already, a thousand years before Abraham had been born, before he asked Abraham to, he already knew what he was going to do. He was going to provide a lamb as a symbol, as a metaphor, as an illustration of the fact that in a few thousand years he was going to provide the lamb of God, his own son. And he would sacrifice God would sacrifice his son for you. God is a God of love. He is not a god of anger or retribution. To those who love him and put their trust in him, he says, "I will provide the lamb." But you will be tested in your life. Do you love the dream? Do you love the promise more than you love the promiser and the dreamgiver? Abraham passed the test. How in the world was he able to obey God in faith? Well, the Bible tells us how. Hebrews 11:1 19. "Abraham reasoned." That word there literally means he calculated. It's an accounting term. He reasoned. He calculated. He figured in his mind that God could raise the dead. "If God can give me a miracle son at age 100, he can raise him back to life. And figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from death." Abraham thought, "Well, if he if this goes through, I know God can raise him back to life. That's the kind of God I serve." I want you to write this down. This is the fifth test. Faith is trusting God's purpose without knowing why. Faith is trusting God's purpose without knowing why. If you can explain everything in your life, you are not living by faith. There's some things in your life that just aren't explainable, and you have to live by faith.

Now, I could do a series on the tests of God and go for a year, but let me just give you one more. This is test number six, and it's a tough one, too. The fifth, the sixth test is prolonged pain. Prolonged pain. And this is the "How Long" test. It could be a chronic pain in your life. It that could be a chronic physical pain. It could be a chronic emotional pain. It could be a chronic spiritual pain. It could be a chronic relational pain. It could be a chronic financial pain. It is extended suffering. It's suffering that doesn't go away. You're just having to live with it. Maybe maybe your entire life. This is a test. It is the "How Long" test. "How long, Lord?" And so many of the prophets in the Bible talk and about this and ask, "How long, Lord, are you going to let this keep going?"

Now, a good example of this is Moses. Moses had incredible persistence. He put up with enormous pain in his life. His life is divided into three passages. Four 40 years in Pharaoh's court, uh, as learning to be a somebody. 40 years on the backside of a desert, learning to be a nobody. And then 40 years leading a million griping babies across a desert. He he put up with enormous criticism, enormous conflict, enormous misunderstanding, enormous pain. And he has every right to say, "How long, Lord?"

Hebrews 11:24-26. Moses gave up everything that we try to spend our lives achieving. Fame, fortune, uh, uh, pleasure, possessions, position. He was the son of Pharaoh's daughter. That means he's a grandson of the most powerful man in the world at that time. He's living in the lap of luxury. He gave it all up to go lead a bunch of slaves across the desert. He gave up the very things we spend our lives trying to get. Satisfy sex, salary, poss, passion, possession, position, the American dream. He gave it all up. The Bible says in verse 24 to 26, "By faith, Moses when he had grown up," that's a mark of maturity. Remember, God wants you to grow up spiritually. He didn't make this decision as a baby. When he was a baby, his mo his parents made a decision. But "when he had grown up, he refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh's daughter." He he knew his identity. "He chose to be mistreated. along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time with the people who weren't the people of God. He disregarded disgrace. He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt because he was looking ahead to his reward."

You know, our culture says, "Base all your decisions on your feelings a and live for the now. If it feels good, do it. If it doesn't feel good, don't do it." And most people today make their decision on, "Well, this feels good, so it must be right." Not everything that feels good is right. And not everything that feels wrong is bad. You can't go by your feelings. Your feelings lie to you all the time. Tell you things are better than they are, or they're worse than they are. Your feelings lie. Uh you're manipulated by your moods. The truth is, I don't always feel like being nice to people. Everybody thinks I'm a nice person. I'm not always a nice person. I don't always feel like being nice to people anymore than you do. Sometimes I feel grumpy, cranky. Sometimes I just want to go home and get in bed. I don't always feel like teaching you. In fact, bye. So what if I only preached the times that I feel like preaching or taught you the times that you like the Well, you know, I it'd be a lot less. I just say that you don't always feel like doing the right thing. You know what? I'm going to let you know. I don't always feel like helping my wife. And when my kids were at home, I didn't always feel like helping my kids with their homework. I hated homework. I didn't like it. I didn't want my kids to do it. I didn't want my grandk kidss to do it. So, if you're a teacher, stop all homework. Just teasing that. But I really didn't like it. But did I help him? Yeah. I don't always like to read my Bible, but I know it helps. I don't always feel like praying. I find that when the when I least feel like praying, that's when I need it the most, when I don't feel like praying. Faith is being persistent. Faith is refusing to give up. Faith is keeping on no matter how tired you are. Write this down. Faith is continuing to persist without knowing how long. Faith is continuing to persist without knowing how long. This is the "How Long" test of life.

Now, how do you develop persistence? How do you develop endurance? How do you keep on doing the right thing year after year after year when you don't always feel like doing the right thing? You don't always feel like staying married. How how do you keep on doing the right thing when you don't feel like it? You don't always feel like get up and going to work. How do you have that persistence? How do you handle prolonged pain? By doing what Moses did, and that is hearing from God. Moses had a burning bush. You don't need a burning bush because he wrote it all down, and it's in here. Everything God wants to say to you is right here. You don't have to go have some mystical experience. People say, "Why didn't God just write it in the sky?" He's not going to. He wrote it in a book. Stop looking for a vision. Start looking for a verse. Stop looking for a sign in the sky. Start looking for a scripture in the word. It's all here. It's all here. And it will give you the ability to pass the "How Long" test when you're going through prolonged pain, continuing to persist without knowing how long.

Hebrews 11:27, last verse. "By faith he," that's Moses, "uh, left Egypt, not fearing the king's anger. He persevered." How did he persevere? "Because he saw him who is invisible." You keep your eyes on God. If you keep your eyes on on your pain, you're going downhill. If you keep your eyes on the pain reliever, on the Savior, on the God who loves you, you're going to go through it. Now, there's a lot more I can say about this, but we're out of time.

Which of these tests are you facing right now? An impossible task, and you're going, "What? Lord, what?" Uh uh are you considering a major change? And you're going, "Where? Lord, where?" Or are are you facing a a delayed promise, a delayed answer? "When, Lord, when?" Are you facing an unsolved problem? "How, Lord? How? How are you going to do this?" You facing a senseless loss that you're grieving over? "Why, Lord? Why?" Are you struggling with prolonged pain? "How long, Lord?" You know, there's nothing wrong with asking God what and when and where and why and how and how long. As long as you understand, you're not going to get the answer. The real issue is what are you going to do when you don't get an answer? Even Jesus on the cross said, "My God, my God, why?" So, it's okay for you to ask why. But he didn't get an answer, and you won't either. The key is, will you trust God without knowing how or when or why or how long or where?

I I don't have time to go in this, but there's a pattern seen in all three of these men. I wrote it down to Bob, your outline. I won't teach you on it, but an O.P. First, God gives you an opportunity. He gives you a promise. Then there's an obstacle or an opponent that holds you back. Then there's an ordeal, and it's a waiting or testing period. You're going to go through that over and over and over hundreds of times in your life.

So, let me summarize what it means to live by faith. It's facing the future without knowing what. Faith is following God's leading without knowing where. Faith is waiting on God's timing, without knowing when. Faith is expecting a miracle without knowing how. Faith is trusting God's purpose, without knowing why. Faith is continuing to persist without knowing how long. This is a test.

Let's bow our heads. With their heads bowed. With human test, the key is knowing all the answers. But with God's test, the key is not knowing all the answers. With God's test, the key is trusting God to know the answer. Pray this prayer in your heart. Follow me as I say this prayer. "Dear God," say it in your mind, "Dear God, I want to be a man or a woman of faith. I want to be a man or woman of character that you can use in a mighty way. So, dear Jesus Christ, help me face the future in faith without knowing what. Jesus, help me follow your leading without knowing where. Help me wait for your timing without knowing when. Help me to expect a miracle without knowing how. Help me to trust your plan and purpose without knowing why. And help me to continue to persist and endure without knowing how long. If you've never opened your life to Christ, say, 'Jesus Christ, come into my life right now. Be my manager of my life, the Lord of my life. Be the savior of my life. I need you.' In your name I pray. Amen."