DAILY DOSE OF HOPE – BLOG – NAIMA LETT
ACE YOUR TEST
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Life is full of tests.
And the secret to acing our test with an A+ is to first know that it IS a test.

Perfect example:
One of our HOPE board members, Rasheed M. McWilliams, Esq., recently made Partner at his law firm. (Mad congratulations!) But before this advancement, he passed years and years of tests: Morehouse College, New York University School of Law, New York State Bar Exam, Georgia State Bar Exam, California State Bar Exam. Tests, tests, tests! Do you know how many cases he’s had to help win (A+)? How many clients he’s had to satisfy (A+)? How many dues he’s had to pay along the way while still walking in integrity and excellence (A+)?

He’s passed each test because
1) he knew he was being tested and
2) he prepared.
He studied. He researched. Then, he aced his exams.

Fam, what life test are you facing?
Have you even acknowledged that you’re in a test?
Have you prepared? Have you looked at how others passed before you?

Last Sunday, we continued our What’s Taking So Long? series.
I summed up Part I in the blog, What’s Taking so Long?, in which we learn that sometimes the answers we are waiting for are caught up in a spiritual battle (Daniel 10).

Part II of what could take so long for us to receive what we are asking of God is that we could be smack dead in the middle of a test.

That’s what happens to God’s people in the wilderness. When they arrive at the Promise Land, Moses explains what they’ve been through over the last 40 years of wandering around the desert. He says God allowed them to be tested… to know what was in their hearts.

DEUTERONOMY 8
Excerpt:
2 Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. 3 He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. 4 Your clothes did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty years. 5 Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the Lord your God disciplines you… 16 He gave you manna to eat in the wilderness, something your ancestors had never known, to humble and test you so that in the end it might go well with you. 17 You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.” 18 But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today.

The Lord tests His children to see what’s in their hearts and to see if they will follow His commands. He humbles and allows them to be crushed so that “in the end, it might go well with you”. The crushing isn’t to take them out, but to prepare them for the resources to come. Then, when they enter into the Promise Land and make themselves wealthy, they will attribute their success to God, not their own hands.

Do we know that we’re in a test?
Could our dreams be slightly out of reach because the Lord is allowing us to know what’s in our hearts before we get there and giving us time to work it out?

If He gave us the Academy Award, Emmy Award, Tony Award, Grammy Award today, would we give Him glory or bow down and worship the statue?

If He gave us the multi-million dollar contract today, would we handle it wisely or squander it? USA Today did an article a few years ago about mega-lottery winners whose millions went bust. Here’s the key, if we have difficulty managing $10 well, let’s not think we’ll be able to manage $10 million well. The best indication of what we’ll do in the future is what we’ve done in the past.

So, what test have we passed lately?
Are we in one now?

How do we ace the test?
First, know it’s a test. It’s not the end. It’s part of our journey.
Second, prepare! Find out all we can. Get tutoring, if necessary. Make good life decisions. Do the right thing.

Let’s ace our tests, Fam.
Here’s an A+ to encourage you on your path,
Naima

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