Soul Testing

I read an artical on SOUL TESTING. Posting it here, its really worth reading!!

We all know what software-testing is. But what is soul-testing? Let's see. The purpose of software-testing is to find parts of software that do not work properly and fix them. So is soul-testing. God tests our souls so that we can find loopholes in our faith and plug the gaps. In software testing, we leave no gaps. Every nook and corner is tested. So it is with our soul. God leaves no gaps. He wants to make sure our soul is strong, with our faith resting in Him completely.

Job had the fear of God. He said 'no' to evil. Still He was tested. You might wonder what sin Job had. He was without blame. But see Job 42:6. He says, “I repent”. So Job found out that something was wrong with him on the inside. What was that? He had a lot of spiritual pride. He considered himself righteous. Read Job 31. He boasts about how pure his life is. Only after God spoke, he was convicted of his sin.

God does not test us without a goal in mind. So the result of passing the test is this – you won't need anything! Yes. The Word of God says it! You will be complete!

James 1:4 Endure until your testing is over. Then you will be mature and complete, and you won't need anything

“You won't need anything” does not mean that you don't have to grow spiritually anymore. It means that after being tested, you would have found Jesus and learned to put your trust in Him. So you'll say, “I don't need anything else because I have Jesus – Jesus is all I need”. God wants to make us completely dependent on His Grace. That's why God allows tough, pressurizing times that squeeze us – sometimes beyond our ability to handle pain or agony. We fail. God allows such things to bring out our true colors. Then we'll understand that we're nothing and we'll learn to say from the bottom of our heart, “Lord, I'm nothing before you. I cannot stand without You”.

Jesus said to the 11 Apostles, “Apart from Me, you can do nothing” (John 15:5). All of them listened to Jesus like sincere students. But they did not realize its truth until they all ran away from Jesus and denied the LORD in the next 12 hours! They truly realized that they were cowards and that Jesus was their strength. When Jesus was captured, their strength was gone too. Then the risen Christ came to them. Their strength returned to them. Now they really knew in their hearts, “Apart from Jesus, we can do nothing”. When Jesus taught four days back, it was just theory. But now, it became practical. The message was flowing through their blood. They were completely dependent on Jesus now – 100%.

If you are tested, it means that there is something good inside your mind and God wants to drill into your heart. You know in your mind that this is right and that is wrong. But God tests you to drill the truth into your heart so that it will remain forever. For, that is the promise of God: I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people (Jeremiah 31:33). It does not come by magic. It comes through rigorous testing. The more we're tested, the purer we become. Job knew this very well:

Job 23:10 When He [God] tests me, I'll come out as pure as gold.

When you're tested, with all your patience, endure

The day will come when God will say, “Ah! Now you're pure!”