A race tests your speed.
Weight lifting tests your strength.
Achievement exams test your mind.
Elections test your popularity.

But none of these things is what God tests.
Proverbs 17:3 says, “The Lord tests hearts.” He is not concerned with how strong we are, or how fast we are, or how smart we are, or how popular we are. He is concerned with how faithful to HIM we are; if we fear & revere Him more than anything else. And so He specifically allows occasions for you to be tested in this. Perhaps you feel like you are in a time of testing right now? If you are, then you should know that this is what God is looking for: not how much money you come out of the trial with, or how popular you end up being, but how much you trust Him, and how faithful to Him you demonstrate yourself to be through this time.

Even today (August 27, 2012) there is a hurricane bearing down on our state, Louisiana.   As the old Emergency Broadcasting System used to proclaim, “This is a test!”  Are you responding to this test with panic, or with trust in God?  More than anything else, God wants your response in this trial to be one of faith and trust in Him.   That response which He sees from you is more important than any material gain or loss which might occur. 

Psalm 147:10-11 says: “He does not delight in the strength of the horse; He does not take pleasure in the legs of a man. The Lord favors those who fear Him.”
So that’s what He is looking for: “The Lord tests hearts.”  In your current test, what is He finding in yours?