Attention: This is a Test

Why God doesn’t do everything that you want Him to when you want Him to do it - especially when you think He should?!

Someone I know very closely encountered Jesus as their Lord and Savior in the 70’s Jesus People movement - High on drugs, afraid of the dark, & addicted to many substances - God INSTANTLY delivered them from all of these things except for 1 minor thing that he fought to be delivered from for many years.

Why???

Attention: This is a Test!!!

God Tests our Obedience:

Exodus 16:4 NIV

Then the Lord said to Moses, “I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions.

God didn’t test His people with punishment or sickness and disease, He tested them with free provision & consistent obedience in the mundane.

Judges 2:21–23 NKJV

I also will no longer drive out before them any of the nations which Joshua left when he died, so that through them I may test Israel, whether they will keep the ways of the Lord, to walk in them as their fathers kept them, or not.” Therefore the Lord left those nations, without driving them out immediately; nor did He deliver them into the hand of Joshua.

God could do it all Himself, but He welcomes us into obedience & partnership with Him in faith and action.

Some Common Areas of God’s Testing:

Stewardship -

Steward - One who manages the master’s property

Matthew 25:23 NKJV

His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’

1 Corinthians 4:2 NKJV

Moreover it is required in stewards that one be found faithful.

Faithfulness in the little and mundane is the key to releasing the much.

Faithfulness can only be determined at the end, not in the moment.

How’s the budget?

Are you faithfully saving, giving, growing and sowing what & where the Master is telling you to do with His finances that are in your hands?

Health & Healing:

John 9:1–7 NKJV

Now as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth. And His disciples asked Him, saying, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him. I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” When He had said these things, He spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva; and He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay. And He said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which is translated, Sent). So he went and washed, and came back seeing.

Couldn’t God have just healed this man instead of making him go wash after Jesus made him dirty?

What would have happened if the man didn’t obey Jesus?

(Went to an eye washing station, or just didn’t bother to wash at all)

We have a part to play in our own miracle!

James 2:26 NKJV

For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

We all know that diet, rest, and exercise are the foundations for good health

Are we following good doctor’s counsel (cutting back on sugar, reducing caloric intake, eating vegetables, exercising, reducing stress, etc.)

1 John 3:20–21 NKJV

For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things. Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God.

It’s folly to continue to do the things that got us to where we are at and expect that God will heal us (give us a miracle) when we will just undo our deliverance.

(Sheep video)

We need both - Wisdom (& action) for Health AND Faith for Healing!

Freedom from Bad Habits:

Quotes from Chapter 7 of Atomic Habits by James Clear:

“Disciplined people are better at structuring their lives in a way that does not require heroic willpower and self-control.”

“It’s easier to practice self-restraint when you don’t have to use it very often.”

“You can break a habit, but you’re unlikely to forget it.”

“Self-control is a short term strategy.”

“It’s easier to avoid temptation than to resist it.”

King David should have been somewhere else:

2 Samuel 11:1–2 NKJV

It happened in the spring of the year, at the time when kings go out to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the people of Ammon and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem. Then it happened one evening that David arose from his bed and walked on the roof of the king’s house. And from the roof he saw a woman bathing, and the woman was very beautiful to behold.

David should have been at war, but sent others & ended up committing adultery & murder.

Samson Was walking through a vineyard:

Judges 14:5 NKJV

So Samson went down to Timnah with his father and mother, and came to the vineyards of Timnah. Now to his surprise, a young lion came roaring against him.

He took a Nazarite vow in which they were not to ingest anything from the grape vine wine, vinegar, grape juice, or similar drink, nor could they eat grapes or raisins (Num 6:3-4).

Samson kept flirting with the line of danger.

The only reason we should want to know where the line of danger is, is so that we can run the opposite direction from it.

Breaking unGodly habits takes change, strategy & faithfulness, not just prayer.

Just One Thing:

Instead of being upset that God left something for you to do, be excited that God invites you to be a significant part of His miracle-process in your life.

Discussion Questions:

What actors or actresses play the same character in almost every movie or show they do?

What was your major takeaway from this sermon? Share a little about it with your group.

Please Read Exodus 16:4 & Judges 2:21-23 and share what these verses minister to you and your personal life.

What specifically did you learn about Habits , Temptations, & Faithfulness that you can apply to your life in a meaningful way?