Does God Test Us Or Are We Learning and Growing?
Often, when some of us are faced with a challenging situation, decision, or undertaking, and it we can go one of several ways, one can find herself/himself asking, whether God is testing us.
For example,, a person can be presented with a situation, and chose to act upon it based upon personal desire, which might in fact lead to a self-destructive end. Other times, we may find ourselves not knowing whether to do something we are taught is just and right, and turning away from a situation, because we feel it does not suit or own personal needs. Our choices, to a large extent are based upon our vision and interpretation of ourselves, which may include a low self-esteem, or contrarily one where we feel that we are so large, other ways, ideas and perspectives have no merit inside our own particular universe. An individual may have inside his/her mind, the idea that I engage in some self-destructive conduct because I do not believe I deserve love. Or conversely, the world should operate the way I think, and failure to do so will result in self-destructive actions.
Letting go of something may be necessary for our own personal and spiritual growth, whether we agree with the consequences or not. Staying stuck inside of an immovable situation can cause personal pain, suffering and result in feelings of lack of self-worth.
Here is the question of the day? Do you believe that God tests us? Do we test ourselves in order to learn certain lessons in order to grow and mushroom into a better person? Ultimately, does it matter what the source of the insight is so long as we can become a better more loving person?
Thank you for your minds.
For example,, a person can be presented with a situation, and chose to act upon it based upon personal desire, which might in fact lead to a self-destructive end. Other times, we may find ourselves not knowing whether to do something we are taught is just and right, and turning away from a situation, because we feel it does not suit or own personal needs. Our choices, to a large extent are based upon our vision and interpretation of ourselves, which may include a low self-esteem, or contrarily one where we feel that we are so large, other ways, ideas and perspectives have no merit inside our own particular universe. An individual may have inside his/her mind, the idea that I engage in some self-destructive conduct because I do not believe I deserve love. Or conversely, the world should operate the way I think, and failure to do so will result in self-destructive actions.
Letting go of something may be necessary for our own personal and spiritual growth, whether we agree with the consequences or not. Staying stuck inside of an immovable situation can cause personal pain, suffering and result in feelings of lack of self-worth.
Here is the question of the day? Do you believe that God tests us? Do we test ourselves in order to learn certain lessons in order to grow and mushroom into a better person? Ultimately, does it matter what the source of the insight is so long as we can become a better more loving person?
Thank you for your minds.
27 Comments:
I ain't into the idea of a "new cult" but, the thing is, it does seem to fit what I know.
GOD is love and creation and all things good.
GOD made it all and gave it to us.
And, like any good gift, GOD didn't sit around to beat us or punish us for our actions, but rather, is merely watching, not so unlike doting parents watching their children playng with whatever thing, toy or book or clothes they got.
There
s a Spirit t'help, but, it's up t'us to do nice.
I do think there's gonna be a time when we stand before the CREATOR and have t'answer up, but, test us? Nah. No need for that.
We're either GOD's people or not. Just that simple.
(and, believe me, when I say that to folks who are christians, and especially 'bout the "answer up" part, boy! Do I get a finger wagging!
I believe that Jesus was exactly what he said he was, and that we are too, since he also said that. We are all of us children of GOD.The rules are simple (that's why I figure Jesus came at all, cause Daniel couldn't get it through our cold hearts)....
Love GOD the CREATOR with all your heart, mind and soul, and do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
i think the answer to your question is both -- god tests us and we test ourselves (if we have grown to that ... whether we realize our actions or not). whichever it is ... if we can find a way to grown and learn from it and make it a positive choice, it's good. i think to not move in a situation is just being stuck and does no one any good.
Here's one where I can honestly say, "who knows?" But I thought I'd stop over to say hi! No matter what, we learn and grow. If we think God is testing us and it gives us comfort, then so be it. Personally, I think it's kind of mean of God to throw roadblocks in our way to see how well we dodge them, so I'd hope He's not.
Sometimes, it is necessary to let go of people, places and things for our own growth and benefit, however difficult that may be.
I don't believe I am being tested by any one other than myself. THe obstacles placed in my path can always be traced back to decisions I (or my loved ones) have made. The only exceptions are tragedies like illness or death, but I consider those to be facts of life rather than a challenge designed for me.
I've had to let go of people who consistently brought out the worst in me, or (unknowingly) inpsired me to make poor decisions. Unfortunately, those people are family to me. There are three women I'm related to who are the gossiping type. They are also quite cruel to their spouses and children... but always under the guise of simply having a sarcastic sense of humor. Since I spent most of my life looking up to these individuals as a child, it was very difficult for me to be around them without emulating their behavior, even as a adult. I finally recognized this and cut them from my life. Except for hte annual family reunion, we have no contact. I love them dearly and we get along great when we hang out at the reunion... it's not like I hate them or anything... they just happen to be toxic to me.
So I guess that is an area for improvement for myself. If I were a stronger person, I would be able to maintain my own identity regardless of my environment, right?
Becoming who we are takes lots of mistakes along the way ...
I think we humans test just about everything just out of curiosity or caution.We learn eventually.
Cool post today.
Thanks for sharing ~
You probrably already know my answer. I think that G-d does tests us but only to help us grow. It would be nice to not have any challenges but if we never have any challenges then there would be nothing to work on and we wouldn't grow. But because we have challenges, we can learn from them and grow.
About letting go of some people, places and things, if it's harming us then we should let go. Like if someone is a bad influence, then we should stay away from that person. Or if we work at a certain place and the environment is horrible, we should leave. These are just examples.
If it is something like for example exercise where it's hard but good for us, then we should stick with it.
shalom
Even if there was a god, I think he'd have better things to do than play "Pop Quiz for the Human Carbon Units"
...actually I'd be pissed that he wasn't working on bigger problems with more significant consequences
Good post, I think we are being tested by both God and ourselves.
BTW - I answered the question in the comment you left me.
I can't imagine that adversity is a "test" by a divine all-good, all-knowing Other because of how some people get run over by the test! Sufficiently extreme adversity is destructive or lethal.
But many, I think most adversities, can be regarded constructively as tests in the sense of constituting challenges, since many of them represent occasions we can, in fact, rise to and gain from.
"Ultimately, does it matter what the source of the insight is so long as we can become a better more loving person?"
No. :-)
Like many of the other bloggers answered, God tests us, situations test us, and if we are to fulfill our duty to God, we will test ourselves. You cannot live up to your potential without stretching your means. Like a sapling, we are flexible when we are young. We can be grafted and shaped according to our basic needs. Our dreams are wide open. As we get older we become rigid. It's sometimes necessary to prune ourselves or else we may break. Hopefully this isn't self-destructive but helpful in that it can allow us to see positive alternatives. It's an intricate dance of trying to live somewhere between our dreams and achieveable reality.
This reminds me of the philosophy of Diogenes, who was the father of cynicism. His name means something like "dog". He was an outrageous man who often didn't fit in with others -a recluse who refused to wash himself and lived in a dog kennel. He is not necessarily a man whose actions I would want to replicate but I believe his philosophies did have their purpose in that we need to be hard on ourselves sometimes in order to ensure self-sufficiency. If we make ourselves rugged we will also be more versatile, and thus prepare ourselves for whichever choices we make or are made on our behalf. On the other hand, we live in a highly interconnected world where it is possible to save ourselves from the "hard way" merely by creating successful networks and asking for help from others who can help us when we need it.
Lol ok sorry, wrong name for the question. That last post about answering the question, you didnt ask.
Being secular humanist i don't think about God testing us. I do think we decide our actions based on circumstances.
We can make good or bad decisions, we can be generous to others or selfish.
We can be edifying to ourselves or self-destrucive.
We make mistakes & that's O.K.
We have to learn to really love ourselves as apposed to being egotistical.
Great comments...
For me, some problems, no matter how painful, can be viewed as special opportunities to growth. These opportunties can in fact be Divine in orgin, but the manner in which we handle ourselves, and these issues, is about how much we are willing to let go.
Pain, it has been said, is the touchstone to self-growth. Often, at least for me, I have to let go of something, which may be so very, very difficult, in order for me to grow, and get to the other side of the rainbow.
I don't think in terms of God putting me to any kind of test. Life does that naturally.
But when trials come my way and I am put to the test by life, I certainly lean on God to help me get through it. I think it is my responsibility to learn something of value from any trials I encounter, to look for the good in them, to grow from them.
Probably alittle of both....We do know he tests us....Well if you believe the Adam and Eve story!!!
Have a great day!!!
I do not believe God tests us. I believe we have choices and with those choices come consequences. God has no need to test us - God has no need for us. We need Him (or Her or whatever). If I try to live my live by certain spiritual principles - to the best of my ability, everything will be ok, no matter what that happens to be. Maybe it's just a bunch of self-hynosis, perhaps I'm delusional or just stupid but when I align myself with a power greater than myself, things just seem to go right - maybe because I deluded myself that misery is happiness. If so, then sign me up for lala land, I'll take that kind of misery over the other kind - where misery is miserable.
~Mike
Hi
Sorry I haven't visited in awhile.
I certainly believe that tests of all kinds Are Being sent our way.
Sometimes they're so small we barely even notice them.
Say you see someone you fought with and manage to greet that person, even then I'd say you have overcome a test.
I don't really believe that "tests" are sent our way...either divinely or self-created.
Instead, I believe that life is a series of situations and events and that we can learn and grow from all of them.
Great post, Barbara. Very thought-provoking!
I think we're test every day of our life. Sometime life test is pretty easy and some time it pretty darn hard.
Do I think more then god/dess test us. My answer would be yes.
I just realized what I love about your blog. You discuss the two things one is not supposed to mention in mixed company: religion and politics. :-)
The issue regarding whether God test's us or not, I suppose to some extent depends upon how one views the universe and what and how things happen.
For those who believe all that happens is according to God's will, the issue of whether He tests or not is not relevant, for everything that occurs is according to his plans anyway. Whether this is because of a test or not, is not at issue.
For me, I turn to God when I need comfort, support and guidance. That being said, part of me does believe that all that happens is according to God's will, but that God does not necessarily will evil to occur. There are evil people in the world, as we have seen through history, and to blame these events, such as the Holocaust, earthquakes causing massive deaths, other forms of genocide, mental illness and hardsip on God, is not very helpful, in my humble opinion.
I don't think God test us, I think he lets us make our own mistakes along with our own joys. I have found that most of the time I am my own worst enemy because I tend to worry about things that I have no control over. No life is perfect, it isn't suppose to be. It is how we handle what life has to offer us that matters. We learn as we go.
I think life is a constant test, and only the strongest survive. The tests were different when we were different. I think they've become more complex as we have, but I don't know that the universe or god has anythign to do with it. I think life is jujst hard, no matter where or when you live, and our only real job is to get through it while doing as little harm as possible.
Wow... I thought us 'guilt ridden' Catholics were the ones to 'own'that question...
Purposely? I dont think so.
In the order of things, it naturally happens.. free will..
Definitely some things need to be let go of. For the sake of growing .. Im not sure learning.
T
The Almighty tests us, He surely does, all the time!
Life is but a series of tests. And yes, there is no contradiction: each test fulfills a double rol, it is a test and a lesson at the same time.
G-d is a great Teacher, a Master who doesn't just test to see how the learning is going, and doesn't teach just to pass the test. He teaches through the test.
Now, regarding a post you put in another blog, regarding Israel getting rid of all the bad Arabs by deporting them to Iraq (I've been blog-surfing tonite): have you ever read the works of Rabbi Meir Kahane? I'd like to suggest the Kahane Books website. You'll sure find it interesting.
http://www.kahanebooks.com/
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