Leaving the Results to God

 I've always been terrified of tests...any kind of tests.  Exams at school, medical tests (these are the absolute worst!), evaluations at work (talk about anxiety), presidential elections (enough said)...even silly questionnaires in ridiculous Teen Magazines made me nervous.  The reason tests are such fear-inducing elements in my life is because I don't handle well the period afterwards:  waiting for the results.  That's the real test for me...that, seemingly, never-ending moment (be it minutes, hours, days, weeks, months) when I'm done with the test, when it is out of my hands...and all I can do is wait.  I fear that more than most things in life.

I forget too quickly how God has been Faithful before and how He cannot help it but to continue to be Faithful forever!  This means, the same way He has been with me through all the tests I've had to go through so far, He will continue to be with me through all the tests I still will endure.  This also means that, even though the tests are hard and I have no guarantee of the end results; my faith will carry me through as His Presence is made evident, so I must just do the best I can, do my part, take the test, hand it in and leave the results to the Lord!

Whatever happens, He will be with me and He will protect me.  He will speak to me, and as His child, I will listen to Him whispering in my ear.  I will hear Him saying:  

“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 

2 Corinthians 12:9

Even if the whole world as we know it collapses due to society turning its back on God and His ways; like the Israelites in the times of the Kings, who rejected His covenant, torn down His altars, and put His prophets to death with the sword (1 Kings 19: 14), the Lord will be with His children.  He will take care of His remnant. He will rise them up, and continue to speak to them in the still, small voice of His whispering.  He will reserve for Himself, and preserve those who do not bend the knee to the idols of this world (1 Kings 19: 18). And, in spite of the results of any test, He will call those who belong to Him and we will hear His Voice (John 8: 47).

I'd like to quote something I read yesterday:  "we delight in success.  But we may despair when we seem to fail.  Keep doing what God has called you to do, and leave the results to Him.  He has your name in His book!"  - because, ultimately, that's all that really matters: to have our name written in His Book of Life!

May God grant us whatever we need in order to endure the agony of tests. And may His Presence be evident in special and supernatural ways as we deal with the anxiety of the results, knowing full well that He IS in Control, that we ARE His children and that He WILL keep us in the shelter of His Strong Tower.  In the Precious Name of Jesus.  Amen!