Devotionals for the Heart: When you're tired of being tested by God

How Much Testing is Needed?
A devotional by Terry Overton

“And you shall remember the whole way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not.”

—Deuteronomy 8:2 (ESV)

I laughed at a meme on social media and shared it on my page. The meme made me reflect on how we often look back at old photos and are surprised by how young, how thin, or different we looked, unaware of it at the time.

After my initial laughter, I considered it more deeply. I have certainly changed, mostly through facing difficult experiences and challenges. While time now shows on my face or in the color of my hair, the change that matters most has happened within. Changes that happened during overwhelming tests of loss, family crises, and health issues. At times in the years that passed, I wondered, “How much testing is needed? How much more, Lord?”

But then I went back to Scripture, and I was reminded that I am far from the first person to ask that question. I think of Moses who born to a Hebrew woman but raised by Pharoah’s daughter in the royal palace of Egypt. It was a world that did not welcome him as a Hebrew boy, yet he was raised in riches. Later, Moses would return to a humble heritage and be tested beyond anything I can comprehend.

Although Moses had been raised within the royal court of Pharaoh and called by God to lead the Israelites to freedom from slavery in Egypt, he would later spend 40 years in the wilderness and never enter his destination (the Promised Land). That season likely felt like a detour that was far removed from purpose. Yet it was in the desert, in obscurity and humility, that God shaped Moses into a leader who learned to depend fully on Him. God did not waste a single day of it. Moses at last led the people of God to the edge of their promised land. But this had to happen after years of being shaped by God in ways he never would have chosen for himself.

Similarly, the Bible story about Joseph offers another perspective. He was disowned by his brothers, sold into slavery in Egypt, and while there, he was unjustly put in prison for a crime he did not commit. Joseph’s father gave up hope of ever seeing Joseph again after his other sons told him a wild animal had killed Joseph. His father didn’t know the true story about Joseph’s brothers selling Joseph into slavery. After a while, Joseph’s father gave up hope of ever seeing his favorite son again. Yet, after unbelievable hardship, testing, and dedicated work while Joseph was in Egypt, God enabled Joseph to save the family that disowned him. His journey reminds us that testing serves a greater purpose.

These Bible stories are only a few examples about how God tests us before He blesses us. Testing often feels like an interruption, a delay, or even a defeat. Yet throughout Scripture, we see a different truth—testing is God’s tool for preparation, revealing what we cannot see or know in comfort. Testing is part of God’s plan for us. It prepares us for where He wants us to be and for our purpose.

The greatest test with a purpose was what God planned for His own Son (Jesus Christ). Jesus lived His life in human form on Earth. He suffered. He rejoiced. He mourned like we do. Jesus traveled without provisions. He endured ridicule. Humiliation. Ultimately, he died on a wooden cross. None of that was outside the plan of salvation that Christ and His Father (God) put in place to save humankind well before we knew we needed to be saved by Him. The story of Jesus shows us something important: Testing is not always about escape. It is about obedience.

Each of these people I mentioned in the Bible stories were tested before they were used by God. Each of them had no idea while they were being tested and in the throes of despair, that God was still writing their story that would end in victory. Their stories reveal that what seems uncertain now can have significance later.

What looks like the end of your story may be the very place God is writing the most important chapter. Trust Him in the wilderness. Trust Him in the waiting. Trust Him in the suffering. He has never wasted a season. Not one.

Let’s Pray:
Heavenly Father, I won’t pretend the testing doesn’t hurt. But I know You are not absent in it. Help me hold on long enough to see what You are building. In Jesus’s Name I pray. Amen.

Song of Reflection #1: “God is in this Story” by Katy Nichole & Big Daddy Weave. Listen to it here.

Song of Reflection #2: “It is Well with My Soul” by Audrey Assad. Listen to it here.

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Author Bio:

Terry Overton is a retired university professor of educational and school psychology. She has an Ed.D. in Special Education and a Ph.D. in Psychology. 

Her professional experience includes teaching public school, teaching at the university level, and being a college dean.

She has two children, seven grandchildren, and one great granddaughter.

Her previous writing and publication experiences include textbook and journal articles in the fields of special education and school psychology. She now seeks to answer God’s call to share the good news and grow the church by writing Christian books and devotionals.

Over the years, Terry’s books have won the Mom’s Choice Award, Christian Indie Award, Firebird Book Awards, American Writing Winner Awards, Bookfest Winner Awards, Pencraft Award, Reader Views Silver Reviewers Award, and International Book Award Finalist. Her writing examines real world events with a Christian worldview. She enjoys writing for young children, middle grade readers, YA fiction, and adult level novels.

Terry’s background in teaching adults and children shine through her stories that often include a character with educational or learning challenges. Her Christmas series, The Oddball Ornaments, features a box of misfit ornaments who first learn the meaning of Christmas and then discover the meaning of forgiveness. In The Underground Book Readers series, one of the main characters is on the autism spectrum yet is one of the leaders of the group of teens. Book one of a new series, The Messiah Brigade, features an awkward middle school nerd who helps his school turn around a bully gang of kids. Adoption and family issues are the focus of her new book, Charlotte McMaster and the Messenger Angel.

Terry lives in Texas and enjoys reading, taking pictures for devotional posts on social media, visiting with her family, playing golf, and writing.

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Connect with Terry:
Website: https://www.authorterryoverton.com
Blog: https://terryovertonbooks.com
LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/overtont