C. THE BETRAYAL TEST
Joseph was an example of this. He was a great guy with a great future and God had given him dreams and visions of his future. He was his father’s favorite and he was destined for greatness. And then everything went wrong. He was betrayed by his own brothers. He was betrayed by his employer. He was betrayed by his fellow inmates in prison. But no matter who or what betrayed him, God’s plan remained unchanged. We all face betrayal sooner or later. It is not an easy test to get through. When we face this test it can often be the result of misunderstanding or the malicious actions of others. It is during this test that bitterness and hardness of hearts can set in and destroy us. The key to passing this test is to keep your heart tender and do not allow bitterness to take root on your hearts. This too will pass! At the end Joseph was able to say ‘You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.’ Genesis 50:20 So guard your heart and pass the test.

D. THE AUTHORITY TEST
This is another test that we inevitably face during the course of life. There was a certain centurion/military man in the Bible who came in contact with Jesus. This centurion had a servant who was very sick and he asked Jesus to heal him. Jesus immediately agreed to come and heal him. But then something very interesting happened.

Matthew 8:7-10 Jesus said to him, “I will come and heal him.” But the centurion said, “Lord, I am not worthy for You to come under my roof, but just say the word, and my servant will be healed.” For I also am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this one, ‘Go!’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.”… Now when Jesus heard this, He marveled and said to those who were following, “Truly I say to you, I have not found such great faith with anyone in Israel.”

We do not understand the power of being under authority. I have discovered that if we don’t pass this test, we will go around the mountain again and again and in the process we will be robbed of a blessing that God has for us. I remember a time when I was faced with this test. It was not easy, but I made the decision and the Lord did a miracle in my heart and I was able to serve the people involved to such a degree that one day they accused me of being false. What they did not realize was that it was not false and I had passed the test. The key to passing this test is submission.

Ephesians 5:21 Place yourselves under each other’s authority out of respect for Christ.

We may not like the word but it is a key and it is a demonstration of real faith.

E. THE OBEDIENCE TEST
Perhaps this test is linked to the one above, but yet it is different. Jesus faced this test. He was in the garden shortly before He was crucified and He prayed to His Father and asked that this ‘cup’ be taken away. It’s never wrong to put your request to God. Jesus took the liberty of asking God to release Him of this pending doom, but ultimately He was prepared to obey and He said: ‘But not my will but Your will be done!’ We can go to God and say we would like it in a particular way, but then will we be alright if He says no, I want it My way? The obedience test is the battle between my will or self-will and His will or God’s will! Will we end up doing what we want to do, or will we sacrifice what we want in favour of what God wants? The result of Jesus passing this test was that the world was saved. Imagine what could be the result if you will only pass this test yourself. As we obey and serve Him and His purposes, our lives can have a meaning beyond what we could have ever imagined.

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