day 760: Testing

“God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.”


Businesses must constantly be testing to be sure that they are doing the right things. They are testing their products for quality, consistency, and safety. They are testing their service with mystery customers to ensure that they are delivering the highest service levels. They are testing their financial processes and procedures to be sure they can conform to the laws of Sarbanes-Oxley. They are testing their marketing and advertising with focus groups. They are testing their strategic plan to ensure that it holds up in the face of ever-changing economic conditions and pressures. They are testing their people for performance, productivity and results. They are constantly testing to ensure that they are focused on the right inititaitives and the right deliverables to grow the business. Testing is part and parcel of work and we get used to it. It sharpens us and it can make us better. Testing can also strengthen us so that we are ready for future problems. So, testing is a good thing for business.

But, when we are tested in our own lives, we just don’t like it. Those things that cause us to question and then have to change, we don’t like. Those tests that slow us down or make us change our ways of working or living can even make us angry. This past week, I was tested. This will end a week where I have attended three funerals/memorial services of friends and had I been able to find a way to travel, there would have been a fourth. I happened to be on the road anyway when this all started and as the events each occurred schedules changed, flights were rearranged, deadlines were missed and a physical and emotional toll was taken. Patti and I counted last night that we had stayed in six different places in the past 10 days, and as I never sleep well the first night in a new place, there were only a couple of nights of good sleep. As our flight home was stuck in Chicago last night and we ended up another night away from home, we wondered what was being tested in us. Was it patience? Was it the turning over of situations that are out of our control? Was it the reassessment of how we are spending our own precious time and the reminder that our lives on this earth are short? Was it that we are to be there for other people first, and ourselves second? Likely, because I can ask these questions, it is all of the above that are testing me/us. These are the times that we must call on God’s promises and what He gives us when we patiently endure our testing. I know I am not alone and that there are many who are going through far worse tests today. God’s promises stand for each and every one of us, no matter what the test or its difficulty.

Reference: James 1:12 (New Living Testament)