6/20 The Testings and Trails of a Leader in Christian Foundations
Many times, people come into the Counselling Centre feeling like they are lost in a desert and do not understand God’s dealings in their life. Perhaps sometimes, the Lord is putting them through various tests. A loving Father has reasons for His decisions in our life. Deuteronomy 8:2, Jeremiah 17:9-10.
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The following are 15 common tests for His people. As you read through this list, ask the Holy Spirit to show you how you are doing this each area. |
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1. The Waiting test – How do we handle the waiting while God is developing our calling and character? It may take years between what we have ‘heard’ from God and the fulfilment of His promise. (Abraham and Moses) 2. The ‘Conflict with Others’ Test – How do we handle the apparent conflict between what we believe God has promised by His Word and our circumstances? (Joseph) 3. The ‘Choosing to see the Heart’s Motives’ Test – God exposes and opposes the real motives of our heart. (Balaam) 4. The ‘Beneath our Dignity’ Test – How do we respond to being given task which seem ‘below our calling’? Being faithful in little things means He can give us bigger things. (Elisha) 5. The Desert Test – How do we respond when our circumstances seem ‘dry’? We may see not fruit or be somewhere we do not want to be. (Moses) 6. The ‘People Don’t Understand Me’ Test – How do we respond when people question our motives or misunderstand remarks we have made? (Jesus 7. The ‘My Plans or His’ Test – When our expectations and desires are not fulfilled according to our plans, how do we respond? (Noah) 8. The ‘Blocked in my Goals’ Test – When we feel our goals and objectives are being stopped, how do we respond? (Paul) |
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9. The Warfare Test – How do we handle the opposition of Satan and his spiritual forces against our calling? (Timothy) 10. The Self-will Test – When God asks to do something contrary to our own desires or Self’s opinion, how do we handle it? (Jesus) 11. The ‘Challenge of our Vision’ Test – How true do we stay to the God-given visions when others oppose it? (Nehemiah) 12. The Waiting Test – When God ‘puts us on the shelf’, how do we respond to His wisdom? (John the Baptist) 13. The Advancement Test – How do we handle promotion – or lack of it? (Joshua) 14. The Heart’s Discouragement Test – When circumstances dishearten us, how do we respond? Elijah) 15. The ‘Talking to Others Before Jesus’ Test – How often to you grip, complaint or seek other’s counsel on issues before you go to God? (Zechariah) |
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Personal Comments to yourself:
All these tests give us a chance to look at our heart and see the real motivations of service to God. The key to passing these tests is to avoid following the example set by Lucifer. He failed all of these tests by his “I WILL” statements of pride, ambition and deception, Isaiah 14:12-15.
(Adapted from The Making of a Leader, by Frank Damazio, pages 124-138.)
We invite you to add your comments to the posts as we go along. Agree? …or disagree? … What do you think?
Susanne Fengler, Blog Author
www.christianfoundations.jesus-treeoflife.info
Tags: 14 tests of leaders
Filed under: Challenges to the Christian Faith, Christian Leadership Training
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