THE TEST OF GOD’S DISTANCING
2 Chronicles 32:31 (NIV 1984) God left him to test him and to know everything that was in his heart.
Hezekiah was one of the most zealous kings who led the nation into one of the brightest times in its history; yet he had flaws, as the story reveals (2 Chronicles 29-32). God left him to test him. Perhaps He did not leave him in the sense of abandoning him, but rather temporarily distanced Himself. In the new covenant we are promised that Jesus will never leave us nor forsake us (Heb 13:5), a promise taken from the old covenant (Dt 31:6). The purpose of this distancing was to test Hezekiah, something that God does to His followers, and something the Psalmist actually requests of Him (Ps 139:23). A test is a series of events or challenges meant to shed light on our level of faith and character, providing increase where we are found lacking, and ultimately resulting in our sanctification (see Rom 5:3-5; 1 Pet 1:6-9; 2 Pet 1:3-11).
Tests are hard; they are relentless, and reveal both good and bad in us, along with how much of our acquired knowledge has been applied to our daily lives; and we can't control them, neither their content nor their duration. There is nothing like the tests we face when God distances Himself. Will we settle into the knowledge of the truth we have attained and prove how effectively God’s Word and Spirit work, even when we do not feel Him near us? Or will we fall back into the old habits of besetting sins, medicating our emotional pain with unhealthy and destructive behaviors? Tests are possibly the only way this question gets answered. We must not despise the hard times we face, but embrace the testing that is occurring throughout the process, even if something lacking in us is exposed; it is the generosity of God to show us that. Once we know an area where we are lacking, we can then confess it and place it under the sanctifying power of Christ, all resulting in a deeper faith and a deeper walk with Him. Isn’t that a good trade off? Lord, test us, and know our hearts.
