Testers
“I have set you as an assayer and a fortress among My people, that you may know and test their way.” Jeremiah 6:27
Nobody likes a test. We didn’t like them in school, and we don’t like them now. We don’t really want to know what we’re made of. We don’t want to be shown in what ways we have failed. We don’t want to be told that we haven’t learned what we should know by now.
And yet, God deems it necessary to show us. Not to make us feel like a failure, but to lift us up to the heights of what He made us to be. To show us, in the paraphrased words of C.S. Lewis, what a holiday at sea could be instead of just playing in the mud.
An assayer tests metal to see its strength, its worth, its usability. This metal is good for this job, while that metal is better suited to something else. If too much pressure is put on certain metals, or if they are used in a way that doesn’t suit their best qualities, they will bend or break.
We are as precious metals to the Lord, so He sends tests—not because He lacks the knowledge of our usefulness or strength or worth, but because we need to know for ourselves.
Events can be used to test us—but also some people were used by God to be assayers. Jeremiah was given the task of testing God’s people. He spoke prophetically of future things, but he also confronted the people regarding their choices, thoughts and lifestyles. I’d venture to say that Jeremiah was not a popular man in his time. Nobody likes a test.
God’s intent is to refine us—to make us like Him (in Whose image we were made), and to have the mind of Christ. “Behold, I will refine them and try them…” (Jeremiah 9:7). And then He challenges us to hear the words spoken by the testers among us: “Who is the wise man who may understand this? And who is he to whom the mouth of the LORD has spoken, that he may declare it” (Jeremiah 9:12)?
It is good to be tested. We must know the condition of our souls. We must know where we are weak, or missing the mark, where we continue in our sin unchallenged. We must know the strength of our faith.
Do you have any testers in your life? Some may confront you directly—and I’m speaking of those who challenge you IN LOVE, in gentleness, in righteousness, because they care about you. Or maybe some of you can be tested by reading certain books, or these devotionals, or God’s Word.
Heed the words of the testers among you. Test them to see if they are sent by God—you will know because their words will not contradict God’s Word. And may our faith always be proven by God’s Word.
Father, open our ears to those You have sent to warn us, teach us, and mature us. Amen.