Testing God
How do we put God to the test?
Do not put the Lord your God to the test, as you tested him at Massah. You must diligently keep the commandments of the Lord your God, and his decrees, and his statutes that he has commanded you. Do what is right and good in the sight of the Lord, so that it may go well with you, and so that you may go in and occupy the good land that the Lord swore to your ancestors to give you, thrusting out all your enemies from before you, as the Lord has promised. When your children ask you in time to come, "What is the meaning of the decrees and the statutes and the ordinances that the Lord our God has commanded you?" then you shall say to your children, "We were Pharaoh's slaves in Egypt, but the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. The Lord displayed before our eyes great and awesome signs and wonders against Egypt, against Pharaoh and all his household. He brought us out from there in order to bring us in, to give us the land that he promised on oath to our ancestors. Then the Lord commanded us to observe all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God, for our lasting good, so as to keep us alive, as is now the case. If we diligently observe this entire commandment before the Lord our God, as he has commanded us, we will be in the right." - Deuteronomy 6:16-25
It was at Massah, which means testing, that the people complained to Moses that there was no water and Moses struck the rock to give it to them.
Jesus refers to this incident when he tells the devil we should not put God to a test, in response to the devil's temptation.
The people were angry with God and wanted a miracle. God gave it to them through Moses, but the story doesn't end there.
Moses tells the people that God expects us to be faithful to Him. If we are, he says, good things will come to us, but if we are not, life will be tough.
But how do we test God?
Do we get angry with God for not listening to our cries for help?
Do we expect too much for what little we do?
We may not be like the people following Moses through the desert. We are not challenging God directly as they did, but we could be acting in ways that seek to make God prove His love for us.
When we say we are having trouble believing God is listening, aren't we looking for God to do something to prove to us that He is?
Maybe God is waiting for us to prove something to Him.
Maybe we are the ones who need to be put to the test.
Show me you love me by your actions.
More to come...