TESTING: Our Pathway To Our Kingdom Promotions (4)

He’s An On TIME God—We Must Be Prepared For His TIME!

2 Peter 3:8 “But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day.”

2 Peter 3:9 “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.”

Whenever God tests us, He is trusting us to make the right choice and or do the right thing no matter what our circumstances, hardship or obstacles might be!

As our Teacher, He is watching and observing how we are doing in the midst of our tests:

Mark 6:48 “Seeing them straining at the oars, for the wind was against them, at about the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea; and He intended to pass by them.”

Mark 6:52 “for they had not gained any insight from the incident of the loaves, but their heart was hardened.”

Whenever God tests us, if we fail the test, we will not receive our Kingdom Promotion and we will be required to repeat the test until we pass the test!

I. The HEARING Test!

John 10:27 ““My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me;”

The time will come when God will hover over us and call out to us in order to introduce us to His voice!

1 Samuel 3:10 “Then the Lord came and stood and called as at other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for Your servant is listening.”

When this occurs, and it will, the Hearing test begins:

1 Samuel 3:11 “The Lord said to Samuel, “Behold, I am about to do a thing in Israel at which both ears of everyone who hears it will tingle.”

II. The WILDERNESS Test!

Exodus 3:1 “Now Moses was pasturing the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian; and he led the flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.”

After we pass the Hearing test, God will often hide His face from us and remove His voice from us, to see if we will remain obedient in our wilderness season!

Isaiah 45:15 “Truly, You are a God who hides Himself, O God of Israel, Savior!”

When darkness seems to hide His face, I rest on His unchanging grace!

III. The DISCOURAGEMENT Test!

Psalm 105:19 “Until the time that his word came to pass, The word of the Lord tested him.”

Whenever we have passed the Hearing test and entered into the Wilderness test, we will also be given the Discouragement test!

Joseph received a dream when he was 17 years old, and he passed the Hearing test by believing what God said to him and about him!

Joseph was given an assignment by his father that would be a challenge for him to complete. He journeyed into the wilderness of a place far away from his homeland.

He could have become easily discouraged, but he was willing to do whatever was necessary to find the brothers who hated him and despised the dream God had given him for his life!

From the time Joseph received his God given dream for his life, until God’s word came to pass (about 37 years), The Word of the Lord TESTED Joseph!

IV. The SERVANTHOOD Test!

Genesis 39:2 “The Lord was with Joseph, so he became a successful man. And he was in the house of his master, the Egyptian.”

Joseph served the man who bought him as if he were serving the Lord! And as a result, Joseph became a successful man while he was serving as a slave of Potiphar.

Joseph learned how to Cultivate the Presence of God (the Lord was with Joseph), even in the pit. He learned how to Ruminate on the Word of God, even when he had not heard the Lord speak a new word for at least 10 years! I also believe Joseph had learned how to Activate his Prayers to God during these tests too!

These three disciplines, contributed to Joseph becoming a successful man. He served Potiphar and others so well that he received another promotion:

Genesis 39:4 “So Joseph found favor in his sight and became his personal servant; and he made him overseer over his house, and all that he owned he put in his charge.”

V. The TIME Test!

Genesis 39:20 “So Joseph’s master took him and put him into the jail, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined; and he was there in the jail.”

Whenever God has given us His dream for our life, and we have believed what God has said to us, God’s timing is not our timing!

2 Peter 3:8 “But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day.”

2 Peter 3:9 “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.”

Day in and day out, TIME crawled along and the Word the Lord gave to Joseph TESTED him!

CHRONOS Time is CLOCK time and it is measured in seconds, minutes, hours, days, years, decades and centuries.

KAIROS Time is about MOMENTS. It is the moment in time when God acts fulfills the Word He has spoken to us!

When we have a KAIROS encounter, it teaches us something vital about God’s Kingdom and Trusting God’s timing!

He Is An On Time God—But It Is Not Our Time! So We Must Be Prepared For His Time!

How Does The Time Test Work?

A. Stage One—God Gives You A Dream! Nothing happens until God gives you a dream, Noah to build the Ark, Moses to set the captives free, Abraham to build a new nation, David to become the King of Israel!

B. Stage Two—You Make The Decision to Believe! You decide to act on the dream God has given you! You can’t grab hold of God’s dream until you let go of something that is in your hand!

C. Stage Three—You Experience a Delay! Noah had to wait 120 years, Abraham had to wait until he was 99 years old to have the Promised son, Moses waited 40 years in the wilderness before God brought him back to Egypt to free the Israelites!

D. Stage Four—You Encounter Difficulties! Often it will be circumstances that pull you down and or people who tear you down (criticize you)!

E. Stage Five—You Hit a Dead End! During this phase, your situation moves from difficult to impossible! You begin to think your dream is hopeless! Your dream can appear to be dead, but God still raises dead things to life!

F. Stage Six—God Delivers You and or Comes Through for You!

It often seems as if God is not in a hurry, but He is never late! He’s An On Time God!

There are at least three dangers you will face during your TIME test:

WORRY:

FEAR:

DOUBT:

What Is The Secret to Passing the TIME test and overcoming the temptations of Worry, Fear and Doubt?

REVIEW: We review what was said, and what we heard.

REMEMBER: We remember WHO we are waiting on! We are waiting on the Creator, the Great I AM, the One who is preparing you for what He has already prepared for you!

REJOICE:

1 Peter 1:3 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,”

1 Peter 1:4 “to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you,”

1 Peter 1:5 “who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”

1 Peter 1:6 “In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials,”

1 Peter 1:7 “so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ;”

1 Peter 1:8 “and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory,”

1. ‌When was the starting point for your faith in God?

2. ‌Has God’s will ever resulted in you doing things that did not appear to others like you were successful?‌

3. Is serving others a challenge for you to do with great joy?‌

4. Has waiting on God ever resulted in you doubting God’s word for your life or circumstances?‌

5. What is your most frequent struggle when waiting on God, fear, worry or doubt? ‌

6. What do you do to alleviate these struggles?