I have taken a lot of tests in my life. I went to school–elementary, jr. high, high school and took tests. I took tests to see if those schools did their job and actually prepared me to be a successful college student. Then I went to college and took tests, which seemed endless, then took tests to see if college actually prepared me for further education. Then I went to law school and took tests. To add insult to injury, after THAT grueling experience, I had to take tests to see if law school actually prepared me to practice law. In addition to all of these formal tests, the very process of doing the work required for learning the material for the tests, spending the time and living my life during all of that was a test in and of itself of endurance and diligence and a host of other things. Then, because formal tests are not enough, I have known the testing that life gives all of us. Tests of faith and endurance, of patience and perseverance. So I know a little more than I’d like to know about tests. Tests are hard. We don’t really like them-the pressure to perform, the stress of applying our learning, the risk of failure. As hard as it is, though, it is in the testing that we figure out what we know, what we really want, and where we are weak. Our very purpose here on this earth is to be tested-to see what we will choose in the face of opposition and what we will become through those choices even while we are walking by faith-not having all the answers immediately.
The faith required to successfully meet life’s tests is faith in Jesus Christ. The kind that trusts in Him, His timing, His promises, His superior knowledge, independent of whether or not things are turning out for us in the way we’d like or the way we expected, independent of immediate answers to prayers, independent of what or how much we are asked to sacrifice, independent of whether or not our ‘why’ questions are answered quickly or at all. Elder Simmons of the Seventy put it this way, “Faith is believing that although we do not understand all things, He does. Faith is knowing that although our power is limited, His is not. Faith in Jesus Christ consists of complete reliance on Him.” (“But if Not,” Dennis E. Simmons, Ensign, May 2004) This is the faith that allows us to walk through the storms of life with our trust in God’s plan intact-and it is strengthened through tests.
The phrase ‘but if not’ is taken from the scriptural account of 3 righteous young men in the King of Babylon’s court faced with an impossible test–deny their faith or be put to death. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were pressured to lay aside their convictions and to join the crowd by worshipping idols. The king of Babylon went so far as to threaten them with death in the fiery furnace if they refused. Their response has inspired many talks and thoughts and demonstrated the faith in the midst of tests we are talking about. They said, “If it be so [if you cast us into the furnace], our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand.” They continued, “But if not, … we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.” That is a statement of true faith. “They knew that they could trust God—even if things didn’t turn out the way they hoped. They knew that faith is more than mental assent, more than an acknowledgment that God lives [or that He can bring about good things in our lives]. Faith is total trust in Him.” (Simmons, ibid.)
More recently, Elder Bednar shared the story of a young couple, newly wed, whom he called John and Heather, aged 23 and 20 respectively. Shortly after their wedding, John was diagnosed with bone cancer and Elder Bednar was asked to visit them in the hospital and give John a blessing. Before the blessing, Elder Bednar talked with them and describes how he unexpectedly was led in a direction he hadn’t anticipated. He said, “I then posed questions I had not planned to ask and had never previously considered, ‘[John,] do you have the faith not to be healed? If it is the will of our Heavenly Father that you are transferred by death in your youth to the spirit world to continue your ministry, do you have the faith to submit to His will and not be healed?” Imagine what these young people thought at that moment! What they wanted, of course, was a miraculous healing. What faith, is, however, is a complete trust in and submission to our Father’s will, even if that isn’t what we want. And Elder Bednar was prompted to teach them life changing principles about faith. John wrote, “As I allowed those two ideas to coexist in my life, focused faith in Jesus Christ and complete submission to His will, I found greater comfort and peace…and we are continually humbled to see God’s plan for us unfold.” (“That We Might Not…Shrink” CES Devotional for Young Adults, March 2013) These were ordinary people, just like you and me, given an awesome opportunity to learn, through tests in their lives, about the nature of faith and what it really means to live by the principle of “but if not…”
So, life IS a test and faith in Jesus Christ is both the answer and the way through. The question is, will we choose faith? This test of mortal life is open book, but we still won’t have every answer. It is built in with safeguards that anyone can use to make it possible for everyone who chooses to pass. It takes faith and repentance and endurance, but wonderfully, it does NOT take perfect performance by us, because the atonement of Jesus Christ, His perfect performance, ‘covers’ our imperfections. If we will continually yoke ourselves with Him, He offers His enabling power and strength to us to help us through all of life’s tests. We can trust in His ability to make ‘all things work together for our good.’ ‘He has the power, but it’s our test.’ (Simmons, ibid.) What we can do is give our best; exercise faith even when we don’t get what we want; continue to turn to Him for answers and succor rather than turning to the world; patiently wait on His promises, even if we cannot see any possible way. We will then be able to say, as did Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, “our God is able to deliver us…but if not…we will still trust in Him and rely on His promises.”
As Elder Simmons enumerates, “Our God will deliver us from ridicule and persecution, but if not. … Our God will deliver us from sickness and disease, but if not, … He will deliver us from loneliness, depression, or fear, but if not, … Our God will deliver us from threats, accusations, and insecurity, but if not,… He will deliver us from death or impairment of loved ones, but if not, … we will trust in the Lord.
Our God will see that we receive justice and fairness, but if not. … He will make sure that we are loved and recognized, but if not. … We will receive a perfect companion and righteous and obedient children, but if not, … we will have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, knowing that if we do all we can do, we will, in His time and in His way, be delivered and receive all that He has.” (ibid.) His promises are sure. He is aware of and with us in all of our tests.
