Tests

For most of us, when we hear the word test, we freak and try to find any way to get out of them. Well for the next two weeks, I have a test almost every weekday because of IB. So the first two test I have were English, and like any other English test, you have to write essays. So the last English test had more of an open ended question, and I just went hard with it, and as I was writing my conclusion, I wrote somethings that even caught me off guard. The way I wrote, and the topic I wrote about exposed so much about me and why I do what I do, and this test is a test for my IB Diploma, not a test to discover who I am. But in actuality, God created test as a way for us to discover more about ourselves so we may grow. James 1:2-4 says, "Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." Tests were designed to show us were we are lacking so that we may grow in those areas so that one day we can be complete, not lacking in anything. The thing is that in today's society is that we have so much standardized tests that test have become a thing that we must do, and we don't take advantage of taking the facts that we don't know to grow from that. We then take this attitude and apply it to the tests that God gives us. We try to get through them as fast as we can to get onto other things in our life, but we don't stop and take time to learn from these tests. Then the test comes up again in another form and we get frustrated that God is just giving you the same test over and over again. Trust me, it is extremely annoying. The thing is that God wants you to be complete and not lacking in anything, so he gives us these test, sometimes four or five times over, so that we can learn from it. That is why the verse starts out with the fact that we are to be joyful for test, because it brings us closer to being complete, and that is something we all should be striving for. So no matter if it is a test from God, or a test from your teacher, go into it with an attitude for learning, because you may never know what you may just learn about yourself. 

Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank you for giving me tests so that I may not lack in anything. Help me to have an attitude that is excited for the chance to learn from each test, for all you do, you do out of love, and never to hurt me. Thank you for your love even when I run away or try to avoid everything you have given me. Amen.