The Proof is
in the Pudding!
What does
that mean? This is an old proverb that has joined the microwave
generation!
It has been
clipped down from the original phrase which was:
"The proof of the pudding is in the
eating."
It means
that the true value or quality of something can
only be
judged when it's put to use or tried and tested.
The meaning
is often summed up as:
"Results are what count...it's not how you start, but how you finish."
(For this study...we
aren't talking about 'instant pudding'! We are talking about the
pudding that is cooked and stirred on top of the stove....takes
time!)
In school we spent
days, weeks, months, even years learning about a subject
but the real measure of the matter is whether or not you learned anything
when you
were/are given a test!
(The
Proof is in the Pudding!)
"The
refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold,
but the LORD tests hearts."
Proverbs 17:3
The tests are the
same with the Lord. He has been teaching us many things in His Word,
in our prayer closets, in our every day walk.
Here comes the TEST! When we are faced with trials,
temptations, difficulties and all manner of testings how will we handle it?
If we have learned it well, it will show up in our reaction and our response to
the trials and test that come our way!
We will pass
the test with "flying colors!"
Why
does He test us?
Let's go back to the
Book of Judges and the nations left to TEST Israel.
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Judges 2:22
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"so that through them I may
test Israel, whether they will keep the ways
of the LORD, to walk in them as their fathers kept [them,] or not."
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Judges 3:1
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Now these [are] the nations which
the LORD left, that He might
test Israel by
them, [that is,] all who had not known any of the wars in Canaan
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Judges 3:4
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And they were [left, that He
might] test Israel by them, to know whether
they would obey the commandments of the LORD, which He had commanded their
fathers by the hand of Moses.
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How could God allow
this to happen? They (Israel) had forsaken Him, yet He knew that at some point
during their suffering, they would turn back to Him.
Mountain-Go-Round
Many of us are like
Eeyore in our attitudes! We have become professional
"Mountain-Go-Rounders!"
"O Lord,
I've been going around this mountain of testing for 'days, weeks, months,
years...decades. Woe is me."
The
Scripture says: Consider it all joy!
"Consider it
all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the
testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have {its} perfect
result, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing".
James
1:2-4
The end result of
choosing joy in the midst of trials, testings, and difficulties is that you
will grow as a Christian. When your faith is tested and you pass the test, you
gain endurance and you grow in the strength of your faith.
When you first become a Christian, you're just a spiritual baby, so God gives
you 'baby step tests'. But the longer you walk with
Him, the more intense the testings are - you don't think about the simple
faith tests any more - you've grown above them, they don't shake you anymore.
Your victory through the early testings produced endurance.
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Isaiah 48:10
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Behold, I have refined you,
but not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of
affliction.
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Testing involves
turning up the heat, allowing afflictions. Often the Lord
will use the
ungodly to administer the test and sometimes those
of your family
and/or the household of God. But God....
God does not put us
on the back burner and allow us just to sit and burn.
He stirs us and
encourages us to stir up the gifts that are within us.
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2 Timothy 1:6
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Therefore I remind you to
stir up the gift of God which is in you through the
laying on of my hands.
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Hebrews 10:24
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And let us consider one another in
order to
stir up love and good works,
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2 Peter 3:1
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Beloved, I now write to you
this second epistle (in [both of] which I stir up
your pure minds by way of reminder),
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Much
as we hate tests, they are really good for us.
That's why
we should be able to pray:
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Psalms 26:2
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Examine me,
O LORD, and prove me;
Test my mind and my heart.
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1 Peter 1:7
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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,
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The Proof is
in the Pudding!
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Psalms 34:8
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Oh,
taste and see that the LORD is good;
Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!
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Shalom and
blessings
bj
