School might be tolerable if we could do away with tests. We would still have the awkward social situations and homework, but getting rid of tests would surely help. After all, who needs the late nights, the sweaty palms, or the mental blocks? What do you do if you've studied hard, but the teacher asks a question about the one part of the assignment you didn't understand? Then, we have to deal with the fist in the pit of the stomach when we get the grades back. For some people, the tests don't end until they take qualifying exams for doctoral study. Whether we are in school now, or just have the bad memories, we don't like tests. Oh, and teachers have to grade them, so even they don't like them. No matter what our opinion of tests is, they are here to stay. You have to take tests to get into school, and you have to take tests to get out of school. We can't get out of it.
As if all of that weren't enough, when we get to Deuteronomy, we find out that God gives tests! This passage from chapter 8 is one of Moses' sermons to the people of Israel, preparing them for life in Canaan, their destination for the past forty years. Moses explains that part of God's purposes in having the people travel through the wilderness was "to humble you and to test you." Great, even with God we can't get away from tests.
If we are to take the tests God gives us, we have to be careful how we understand them. Here and elsewhere the authors of the Bible use the language of testing to describe one way we relate to God (see Genesis 22:1). What does it mean that God tests us? We sometimes assume that everything that happens to us is a test from God. We have known people who will say about an illness or some difficulty, "God must be testing me." We should be careful with this talk of God testing us. Not every event is some pop quiz sent directly from God. We cannot affirm that a tragic accident that leaves an innocent child dead happened only so that God could "test" the parents. Even the meanest, worst teacher on earth would not administer such a test, so surely God would not do so. No one, even those with the very best minds, knows why certain things happen. We don't know why a young single mother gets sick and can no longer work to support her children. We don't know why violent storms brew up, snuffing out lives that have barely begun. We can't answer the why question, but surely these things do not happen just simply so God can mark our papers "pass" or "fail."
We also want to affirm that the biblical language of God testing us is a way of saying that things are not all set up in advance. Some people seem to want to tell us that God has so ordered the universe that all events are predetermined. All we can do is follow the script that already has been written for us. In this way of thinking, we are the puppets; God pulls the strings. If Deuteronomy uses the language of testing, then we can only assume that God has not already filled in all of the answers. We have choices to make; we can change things. If we have choices, then other people also have choices. Some of the things we blame God for are really other people's bad decisions. If God tests us, then maybe God does not know how we will respond, which door we will choose, which blank we will fill in, how it all will come out.
If we are careful with this language of testing, if we don't assume that every bad thing was directly sent from God as a test, and if we realize that God has not assigned a grade in advance, we can learn and grow from this way of seeing our relationship with God. As we said earlier, we all hate tests, but we learn something from taking tests. Tests let us know what our strengths are, and what we need to work on. In the long run, tests are good for us.
In our passage this morning, the test the Israelites take is really a two-parter. The first part of the test is the forty years in the wilderness. If we think the SAT is bad, think about wandering around in the middle of nowhere for four decades! What this experience tested was the ability of the people to handle adversity. Moses summarizes the adversity in just a few words: "the great and terrible wilderness, an arid wasteland with poisonous snakes and scorpions" (8:15). What would this time of deprivation do to the Israelites? Could they keep their faith in the desert? Would they give up and pack it in? Would they keep going and fulfill their destiny?
Keeping in mind our conviction that not every bad thing that happens is directly caused by God to test us, we know that life has its share of wilderness experiences. Grief is a wilderness experience. Business problems are a wilderness experience. Tension in a marriage is a wilderness experience. Having a friend from school betray you behind your back is a wilderness experience. Poor health is a wilderness experience.
The basis for our grade on this kind of test is whether or not we give in to despair and bitterness. The temptation to despair can be great. We fight to keep our spirits up, not to feel sorry for ourselves, to keep the spark of hope from going out. Curiously, even though despair and bitterness are unpleasant experiences, they can begin to feel comfortable. We don't want to put out the effort to fight them, to feel better. Continuing to hope and trust in difficult times can be hard work. I need to say a word here about true depression. That is both a spiritual problem and a medical problem. If we experience true depression, our faith can help, but we may need to see a physician, too. In any case, our faith is part of what helps us defeat despair and bitterness.
The writer Dan Barber discovered at a fairly early age that he had contracted multiple sclerosis. MS has played tricks with his thinking and concentration. He tires easily and struggles with his memory. All of that makes it harder for him to write. He struggles to keep discouragement at bay. He draws strength from a book by Floyd Skloot, who developed viral brain damage while on a long distance airplane flight. Skloot boarded the plane a healthy, athletic man, but landed damaged for life. The book is titled, In The Shadow Of Memory. The brain virus robbed Skloot of some memory function and his athleticism. He had been a dedicated runner. Skloot wrote that though much of his world seemed shattered, "I felt reborn, hopeful, looking at the coming years with genuine astonishment at all I thought would be important."1
We cannot help but admire the courage of a man who can face adversity with such a spirit. Skloot and Barber get an A+ on the test of overcoming despair and finding joy in what could have defeated them.
Dealing with adversity is not the only test life administers to us. This passage really focuses on the second part of Israel's test. This test seems easier, and much more pleasant to take, but a good many people flunk it. That test is how to handle success.
Moses is preaching to people who are about to have their dreams come true. The time of deprivation is behind them. They will soon enter the land of Canaan, the Promised Land, their destination for all of these years. Their ship is about to come in; their stock hunches are about to pay off; their big promotion has just been approved; they have been elected head cheerleader; they got accepted into the college of their choice.
Moses describes their coming success with rich word pictures: "a good land, a land with flowing streams, with springs and underground waters welling up in valleys and hills" (8:7). The list of delectable food is long: wheat, barely, figs, olives, honey, and pomegranates. This will be a time of abundance, when the well-watered land will produce food and the hills will produce wealth in the form of iron and copper. In the wilderness, they faced shortages of everything (see Exodus 17). Here they will find life-giving water, beauty, and prosperity. In the wilderness, they were constantly on the move; here they can put down roots.
This sounds like a test anyone could pass. No need even to study! Certainly, no all nighters would be required.
Our spirits do not always follow our full stomachs, however. Having the material things we want does not guarantee that our faith will prosper. We can be tempted even, or maybe especially, when everything is going our way.
A physician once spoke to his financial advisor about his circumstances. In his fifties he had a successful practice, a $300,000 annual income, $1,500,000 in stock investments, and owned a $700,000 home with no mortgage. He did not go to his advisor to thank him for his expert counsel. He did not go to ask how he could help others. He did not go to ask how he could express his gratitude to God for his abundance. He went to complain. He was discouraged because he realized that he could never crack into the top one percent of household wealth in the country.2
If the test questions for adversity have to do with despair and bitterness, with holding on to hope, the test questions for prosperity have to do with selfishness and arrogance. As Moses admonishes the people, "Do not say to yourself, ‘My power and the might of my own hand have gotten me this wealth.' But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth" (8:17-18). Getting an A on this test means living in gratitude to God and generosity to other people.
So the tests never end, even after we get out of school. The question, though, is how God grades. As far as our eternal salvation goes, we know that God grades with mercy. Even the people of Israel flunked both halves of their test. In the deprivation of wilderness, they complained, grumbled, and even made the golden calf. In the land of promise, they began to worship the Baals. If God did not show grace, we would flunk every test. If we truly understand God's grace, we accept it with humility and not with presumption.
In another sense, we grade our own papers. We decide if we will let despair and bitterness get us down. If we punish ourselves or lash out at other people for our frustrations, we flunk the test. God can forgive us and other people can forgive us. By giving in to despair, do we not flunk our own test? Do we not rob ourselves of the joy life still has to offer? If we take the test of prosperity, we can allow ourselves to become selfish and arrogant. We may flunk God's test that way. Do we not also flunk our own test by pinching off our souls, separating ourselves from others, and losing the joy of fellowship with God?
Life is never as simple as adversity and prosperity. Even in our darkest times, we have blessings. Even when we have enough material things, life can drop trouble in our laps. Even the richest and most powerful people can feel heartache. The real test is to look for God's hand in our lives whatever our circumstances. Whether life is going our way, or whether we are stumbling around in some wilderness, we can open ourselves in gratitude to God. We can choose not to look for God, but we will end up with shriveled souls. If we choose to look for God's hand in our lives, our successes will be sweeter, and our wilderness experiences will not crush us.
1. Dan R. Barber, "Losing His Words And Finding His Way," Dallas Morning News, September 9, 2003, 1E.
2. Scott Burns, "Implied Wealth Adds To Scoreboard," Dallas Morning News, September 9, 2003, 1D.