Testing, Testing....

I've been thinking a lot about testing lately. As a teacher, I know what testing is for, and I use it a lot in my job. We all know what it is like when Yahweh tests us.

Our response to a test determines how we view the concept of testing. If we were poor test-takers in school or if tests produced fear and anxiety in us, we are not likely to view testing as a positive thing. The anxiety comes from the worry that we will not pass the test, that we will somehow fail and have to go through the whole process of learning again just so that we can come to another time of testing and attempt to pass once more.

I was always a good test-taker in school, largely because I have a good memory and a good grasp of writing, so tests in school never bothered me. However, until recently, the tests that Yahweh gave me always produced a feeling of anxiety. Firstly, I had that fear of "what if I respond wrongly and have to go through this whole process again?" Secondly, I always felt that the reason I was being tested was because I had done something wrong.

As a teacher, I know better. We do not give tests arbitrarily. We give tests when we come to the end of a unit, when we are sure that our kids have learned everything they need to learn to pass this test, and when we think they have all the tools needed to do well. No teacher wants their students to fail. I have, many times, postponed a quiz on the day I planned to give it because I saw that my students just weren't ready.

A friend once told me that she saw tests as an opportunity to show everyone how smart she was.

This is how we should view tests too, for Yahweh is a good teacher, certainly better than I. He does not throw tests at us at random times. He gives them to us when He knows we're ready for them. He has taught us a concept, given us a revelation, and now He is showing us what we know. He is omniscient, so He knows what we know. He does not need to test us to see what we are capable of. We, however, need to see what we are capable of.

So He gives us a test, not because we've done something wrong but because we've done something right, because we've moved into a place of maturity where we have learned enough to be tested on something. He gives us a test to cement what we know in us, so that we can never doubt that we know what we know.

Because once we've passed that test, any subsequent adversity that tries to come against us and say that we don't really know something seems silly. We can hold up that passing of the test and say, "Oh, no! You can't fool me. I know what I know!"

Testing is a good thing, though it doesn't always seem so in the moment. It is a sign of maturity and the ending of a season. Once we pass that test, we move on to the next unit, the next concept, the next revelation, the next dimension. We needn't be tested on that concept again, or at least not in that way. Yes, that concept may show up on a later test, in a later unit, but it will be more in depth, more detailed. You're only going to learn more! You're only going to grow!

And then there's the pre-test. That test you take before you start a unit so that your teacher can tell what they need to hit hard and what they can quickly mention and move on from. Pre-tests tell you what you already know, and then they tell you what you're going to learn.

Again, pre-tests are not bad. We cannot be perfect yet, so we cannot know everything. It is no shame to need to learn something, and pre-tests give us direction. They, too, can give us confidence because often we know more than we think. Still, even in the things we don't know, we find that Yahweh is a patient teacher and that He will teach us all that we need so that, when we come to the test at the end of the unit, we will see how much improvement we have made since the beginning.

Sometimes, the contrast is a beautiful thing.