Turning a Test into a Testimony

Are you facing a test of sickness or of anything else today? Just know this: God wants to turn your test into a testimony!

Everyone faces tests, trials, and temptations at some point in their life. Why? One reason is that Satan is the god of this world system, and he’s just looking for opportunities to bring hardship into people’s lives.

The good news, though, is this: our Lord has given us a way of escape from every test and every trial. Thank God!

Today I want to share five steps for turning every test into a testimony:

1.     Rejoice!

Most people respond to a trial with fear, anger, or discouragement. They ask questions like, “Why me?” or “What did I do to deserve this?” We must remember that trials are not punishments from God. They come because we live in a fallen world.

So why should we rejoice? Because every trial is an opportunity for spiritual growth. Trials actually strengthen our faith!

In James 1:2-4 (NKJV) we read,

My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.

The Bible clearly says that we are to rejoice when we face a test or trial. It’s an opportunity to prove that God’s Word works! If life was always easy street, we wouldn’t grow as much spiritually, and His Word wouldn’t have opportunities to prove it works in our lives.

2.     Rely on God, not yourself.

In a natural sense, we tend to rely on our own strength in living our lives. But God wants us to learn a different way: to rely on Him. That takes trust!

Learning to trust God brings benefits. When we rely on Him in the small areas of daily life, we become better equipped to trust Him for more serious tests, such as terminal diseases.

Jeremiah 17:7-8 (AMPC) explains the benefits of trusting God:

[Most] blessed is the man who believes in, trusts in, and relies on the Lord, and whose hope and confidence the Lord is.

For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters that spreads out its roots by the river; and it shall not see and fear when heat comes; but its leaf shall be green. It shall not be anxious and full of care in the year of drought, nor shall it cease yielding fruit.

3.     Remember God’s promises.

We cannot get to the other side of a test without storing God’s Word in our hearts and then acting on it. The power to overcome every test and trial is only found in His Word. And the way we get His Word into our hearts is through meditating upon it.

God instructed Joshua (Josh. 1:8 NKJV) about this:

This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.

The purpose of meditation is to give us the power to act upon God’s Word—to be a doer of the Word. Acting upon the Word of God is the way to pass every test.

In His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus taught us how to handle the storms of life:

“Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.

“But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.” Matt 7:24-27 NKJV

4.     Respond in faith.

Jesus also taught us how to use our faith for the tests of life.

“For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.”  Mark 11:23 NKJV

When you are facing a test, telling everyone you know about it will not get you to the other side. Talking TO the test in faith, however, WILL bring you out of it. We need to learn to talk to the mountain instead of about it!

What do we say to the mountain? God’s Word! He has given it to us as a weapon against every fiery dart of the wicked one.

How do we use this weapon? With our mouth! We must command the problem to be removed from our life, in Jesus’ name. He gave us the authority to do this.

Speak the Word only—speak the desired outcome, and hold fast to saying it, no matter what you feel or see.

5.     Release your testimony.

Psalm 66:16 NLT says,

Come and listen, all you who fear God,

and I will tell you what he did for me.

Your testimony does three things:

- It gives glory to God.

- It encourages others to believe God.

- It keeps your faith strong.

In Revelation 12:11 the apostle John said,

And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.

I realize that this scripture is referring to the testimony of Jesus, and certainly we should never let fear of death keep us from testifying that He is Lord.

But we also know that without the blood of Jesus, there would be no rescue from the trials of life. And God needs our witness, or confession of faith, for the power of Jesus’ blood to work in our behalf.

As you apply these five principles to the tests of life, you will come out victorious every time, in Jesus’ name!

I highly encourage you to get a copy of my new daily devotional, Healing Nuggets: 31 Days of God's Word for Health, Wholeness, and Peace, to help you meditate day and night. I believe it will be a blessing to your life.

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