A Season of Testing and Trials (10/3/23)

Sometimes the Lord will withdraw His voice, His grace, and His presence in order to test us for a season. We find out what is in our hearts during these seasons of trial. These times are not pleasant but they are necessary to prepare us for what is coming. The Lord has been testing many of us to determine the measure of Christ in each of us. 

“And so in the matter of the ambassadors of the princes of Babylon who were sent to him to inquire about the wonder that was done in the land, God left him to himself to try him, that He might know all that was in his heart. [Isa. 39:1-7.]” (2 Chronicles 32:31 AMPC)

In order for the Lord to test His work in us or to see if Christ has been increasing in us, He has to lift His grace from us like He did with Hezekiah in the above passage. Hezekiah failed this test by allowing the enemy with a secret agenda into his kingdom and showing them all his treasures. Hezekiah still had pride in his heart which caused him to sin in this way. Had the Lord “been with” Hezekiah, he would not have made this mistake. 

Trials

The Lord has been preparing the remnant as His bride. In order for us to become the bride, we must be transformed into the nature and character of Christ. Trials reveal our hearts and whether we are allowing Christ to overcome through us. The Lord wants us to succeed and pass these tests.

I just recently came out of a four-month season of testing. I knew I was in a season of testing and the Lord barely spoke to me in that season. My faith was being tested. Would I allow myself to sink into disparity or allow the faith of Christ to come forth in me and win the battle? I was also being tested to see if I would sink into a pit of disappointment and discouragement like I had before in 2016. The test was to see if Christ had increased enough in me to overcome being controlled by my soul. Was my soul still ruling me or was Christ ruling me from within?

Another test I faced during this four-month period was whether or not I would distance myself from the church. In 2016 I had experienced betrayal and hurt from believers which caused me to isolate myself from God’s people for a time. Would I repeat what happened in 2016 because of recent events, or had Christ increased in me to a high enough level to overcome? The immature are easily wounded and offended in the soul. Those who have allowed Christ to rule in them do not get offended easily or hurt by others. Jesus faced major opposition from His own people but did not walk around like a damaged and hurt child. He overcame like a triumphing King. 

Passing the Tests

Recently the Lord told me that I had passed the season of trials and testing. It wasn’t me who passed, for I know how well I did with these same trials in 2016. It was Christ in me that overcame the season of testing I recently went through. Christ gets all the glory and honor as He should. Apart from Him we can do nothing. The Lord Jesus desires to increase in us and overcome this world through us. 

Many in the remnant are going through a season of testing right now. It seems as if the Lord has left you. You feel spiritually dry and the Lord hasn’t spoken much lately. The Father is testing your heart like Hezekiah. Others could be going through any number of severe trials or sufferings not mentioned in this article, or maybe a test similar to Job. The point is that the Father wants you to pass the trials. He desires for you to die to your self-life and allow Christ to live and overcome in and through you. Seasons come and go. Stand in the strength of the Lord Jesus Christ. He will pass the tests if you yield to Him. 

“In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ,” (I Peter 1:6-7 NKJV)

“Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy.” (I Peter 4:12-13 NKJV)

The enemy is attempting to attack some of your minds and tell you that the Lord has left you and is done with you. The enemy is telling some of you that you are really messed up and that the Lord will never use you. In reality, your heart is being tested for your good. Will we trust the Lord even when we can't see, feel, or hear Him? Will we cave in under the pressure of the enemy, or will we allow Christ to pass the tests through us? Christ in you will hold up under the pressure of this season of testing and trials. Trust Christ in you. Christ within you overcomes.

“who led you through that great and terrible wilderness, in which were fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty land where there was no water; who brought water for you out of the flinty rock; who fed you in the wilderness with manna, which your fathers did not know, that He might humble you and that He might test you, to do you good in the end—” (Deuteronomy 8:15-16 NKJV)

I pray that the Lord will reveal the trials and testing that are taking place in your life in His timing. Let the faith of Jesus Christ come forth in you! It’s time we trusted the Lord completely with our future. The delay is for our good and, more importantly, for the good of our Father’s Kingdom. When the fullness of time has come, the Lord will begin moving through you in the ways He promised. John the Baptist was not sent until the right time had come. Trust the Father.

-Ty Unruh (October 2023)