Why would God test His children?

[lunamoth]

Hi Faithfulservant,

I don't know, I think part of what prompted this question was the fact that I have a very hard time with the idea that God would deliberately test us, test us harder than we can bare (IOW, that we could 'fail' even though we love God and desire reunion with God), or test us if we have not asked Him for a spiritual test (I know some people do this to strenghten theri faith; I would not dare!).

I think the tests come from ourselves, and from the disharmony of living in a fallen, dualistic world.

peace, and I hope you will continue to contribute to this thread and others,
lunamoth

[taijasi]

One thing I have learned over the years, and earnestly believe to be true:

We are never given more - than we can handle.

Love & Light,

andrew

[Faithfulservant]

Originally Posted by lunamoth

Hi Faithfulservant,

I don't know, I think part of what prompted this question was the fact that I have a very hard time with the idea that God would deliberately test us, test us harder than we can bare (IOW, that we could 'fail' even though we love God and desire reunion with God), or test us if we have not asked Him for a spiritual test (I know some people do this to strenghten theri faith; I would not dare!).

I think the tests come from ourselves, and from the disharmony of living in a fallen, dualistic world.

peace, and I hope you will continue to contribute to this thread and others,
lunamoth

James 1:2-3 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.

Romans 5:3-4 And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope.

I understand where you are coming from. Dont lose hope

[didymus]

Adversity does not build character, it reveals it.

[9Harmony]

tests encourage us to use our spiritual eyes. to look beyond the immediate physical ramifications. they teach us to rise above the chaos and learn from the experience. if there were no tests, would we grow? i'm not so sure. it seems to me that in order to appreciate the good, we must have something to compare it to.

imho human beings have 2 natures, the lower animal nature, and the higher spiritual nature. i believe we are spiritual beings having a human experience. In human form we are susceptible to falling prey to the things of the flesh, and can easily forget we are spiritual beings first. From an early age we are bombarded by intense material stimulation from all sides, but i believe we all have this spiritual longing within us, it's always there, tests serve as an impetus to explore and develop that part of ourselves, if we choose.

most of you are probably familiar with the Baha'i teaching that this earthly world is a 'school' for our souls. Just as in the womb we are developing the physical attributes we will need to survive in this earthly plane of existence, so too is this world the womb for the next. Baha'i's believe that we are here to develop the spiritual attributes we will need when we leave this world.

one spiritual attribute that comes to mind is that of detachment, all scriptures teach the importance of detachment. In this world of attachment to people, places and things, it can be a difficult concept to grasp. but through tests, we realize that material things are not important, we learn the value of detachment. and i'm just musing as we speak, but if we learn detachment while on earth, perhaps our souls will have an easier transition if we are not so attached to the things of this world when we die.

tests are therefore a blessing in that they remind us what is really important. our eternal spiritual selves.

also, in times of trouble, we turn to God and ask for help, and how often in those times, does a feeling of calm wash over you. this is not to say that God needs us and is a power hungry God and wants us to grovel at His feet, but rather that life is so much simpler if we could always remember to ask for guidance and assistance even during times of good things, in my own humble experience it seems that that is all that's required 'ask and ye shall receive', we must reach out and whatever we truly need miraculously manifests itself in our lives. (as opposed to what we think we need).

it seems to me that we often view these things and relate them to a God that is vengeful, but i am beginning to realize that that is not the case. these things are done out of love for us, for our own progress and growth. but since we have free-will, we are free to take the advice in the scriptures and take it to heart or ignore it. the choice is always ours.

(hey, look at that, not one single quote. not that i wasn't tempted. lol!)

Have a great day!

Loving Greetings, Amy

[Quahom1]

Originally Posted by Faithfulservant

I dont think the majority of this board wants to hear my belief on this subject.. so Im not going to post it.

When I first opened this thread I thought it was going to ask why God gives us trials and tribulations in which I had an answer for...

I believe God sets us up to fail at certain times because thats all we can do in trying to reach Him through our own means. He also makes it glaringly apparent to us. Its humbling. It builds character and allows us to grow spiritually.. our bodies may age but our spirits are young and as all children do.. they make mistakes and learn from them and grow because of them.

We are dealing with a God thats eternal.. our souls are meant to be eternal but they are babies to Him. Its awesome when you think about it. I look at my 3 and 14 yo and how easy it is for them to make mistakes and how badly I dont want them to make the same mistakes I did.. but its futile because they probably will.. I think thats how God must feel. He wants us to listen to Him and not make the mistakes that comes with growth.. He must also know its futile and He has to let us grow whether its towards Him or away from Him.

FS

God never sets man up to fall (not the man who earnestly seeks Him). Sort of like saying that Jesus set up Peter to drown. In reality Peter is the one who stepped out side a perfectly good boat, and was fine until he took his eyes off the Lord. Then what did Jesus tell Peter? "Dude, you got to work on your faith..."

Seriously, my mom reckoned tests of man like this:

In a dream she is running through a meadow tall with grass and flowers. Ahead is the Lord running as well. The grass and flowers cover the ground, so she can't see where her foot falls are. But every time she looks up, the Lord is beconning her to run with Him. So she runs to catch up to Him, and trips in the thickness of the grass.

As she falls, she is caught by the Lord who is instantly next to her (she never hits the ground). Once again on her feet she looks up only to find the Lord ahead of her, again beconning her to come and run fast...so she runs like the wind, and trips and the whole things starts again, except were she to look back (which she doesn't), she would see how far she had come...

We are to be like that. Never look back, always keep our eyes on the Lord, if we trip, He'll catch us and stand us up again, and then we are to run like the wind, because the Lord is running, and we shouldn't keep Him waiting, and He has brought us so far along...

Don't give up. That is the reason behind the testing.

my thoughts

v/r

Q

[Faithfulservant]

Fall and fail have different meanings to me. I can count numerous times in my life where I failed at something only to learn a lesson from the failure. Fall means to me Fallen from grace.. No I do not believe that is possible to lose my grace. I have many times also backslid which I believe personally that God allows to happen so that we learn something maybe in order to help someone in the exact same situation.. that has also happened to me a lot. I am also not speaking of failing to find Him when we earnestly seek Him.. I do not want that to come across in what I am saying. My apologies if it did.

[thipps]

Originally Posted by taijasi

One thing I have learned over the years, and earnestly believe to be true:

We are never given more - than we can handle.

Love & Light,

andrew

The Qur'an concurs.

[wil]

The way I heard it was...

G-d doesn't give us any more than we can handle....

I just wish he wouldn't trust me so much.

[Quahom1]

Originally Posted by thipps

The Qur'an concurs.

Respectfully I ask...I thought the Qur'an redeems? Let me rephrase that, I thought (and think) Allah redeems...