To understand what it means to test God, we must first understand who God is according to the Bible. God is the all-powerful, all-knowing, ever-present Creator of the universe. He is infinite, eternal, and unchanging. God is sovereign over all things and perfectly holy, righteous, and just. The Bible makes clear that God desires a personal relationship with us, but also that He is to be respected, honored, and obeyed.
With this understanding of God in mind, to “test God” means to push the limits of His patience and grace purposefully. It means demanding that God prove His presence, power, or favor while requiring Him to abide by our terms. Rather than approaching God with humility, those who test God treat Him as their equal—or even their inferior—and arrogantly insist He submit to their will and desires.
Scripture gives several examples of people testing God:
- The Israelites repeatedly tested God in the wilderness after He delivered them from Egypt, complaining about their circumstances and questioning if God was with them (Exodus 17:2, Deuteronomy 6:16).
- Gideon asked God for multiple signs before believing He would use him to deliver Israel from the Midianites (Judges 6:36-40).
- The Pharisees frequently tried to trap Jesus with tricky questions to test His authority and wisdom (Matthew 16:1, 19:3, 22:35).
- Satan tempted Jesus in the wilderness to prove His divine power by turning stones into bread (Matthew 4:3).
- In Malachi’s day, the Israelites tested God by bringing worthless sacrifices and robbing Him of their full tithes (Malachi 3:8).
The consistent message of Scripture is that testing God displeases Him greatly. While God is gracious and forgiving, intentionally testing Him indicates a lack of faith and a heart of unbelief. Those who test God doubt His character and promises. They foolishly believe God must prove Himself to them, when it is they who should humble themselves and trust in His goodness and provision.
Reasons Testing God is Sinful
The Bible condemns testing God for several reasons:
- It reveals arrogance. Demanding God submit to our will is the height of human arrogance and pride. We are in no position to test the Creator of the universe (Job 38-41).
- It indicates unbelief. Genuine faith rests in who God is. Needing signs and proofs from God reveals a heart of persistent unbelief (Matthew 12:39, 16:4).
- It reflects ingratitude. God has already shown His faithfulness time and again. For us to demand further tests unveils gross ingratitude for His proven character and prior grace (Psalm 95:8-11).
- It seeks control. Testing God stems from a deep-seated desire to control God and get Him to abide by our rules. But God will not be controlled or domesticated.
- It distorts God’s true purpose. God’s will is for us to trust Him fully, not to endlessly test Him. He wants us to find rest and satisfaction in His sovereignty and goodness (Hebrews 3:7-19).
At its core, testing God reveals hearts that refuse to trust Him fully and submit to His supreme wisdom, power and grace. We test God when we fail to take Him at His word and demand our own preferences and terms be met.
Examples of Testing God
While some cases of testing God are obvious (like Satan’s temptation of Christ), others are more subtle ways we can test God often without realizing it:
- Praying with impure motives. Seeking miraculous signs through prayer rather than God’s will exposes doubtful hearts (James 1:5-8).
- Presumption upon God’s grace. Blithely sinning in expectation of God’s forgiveness can test His mercy (Romans 6:1-2).
- Neglecting spiritual disciplines. Assuming we can maintain intimacy with God without diligent Scripture reading, prayer, fellowship, etc., tests God’s patience.
- Ignoring wise counsel. Stubbornly refusing godly advice and warning is essentially testing God’s favor (Proverbs 1:24-33).
- Taking foolish risks. Putting ourselves in dangerous situations needlessly to see if God will protect us tests His care (Matthew 4:5-7).
- Living outside God’s will. Intentionally going against God’s clear commands, then expecting His blessing, tries His goodness.
- Living fearfully. Refusing to trust God in fearful circumstances, instead giving in to worry and panic, reveals lack of faith in His care (Matthew 8:23-27).
- Neglecting to thank God. Failing to give thanks in any and all circumstances tests God’s enduring faithfulness and grace (1 Thessalonians 5:18).
In summary, testing God means actively and willfully doubting His goodness, care, power, and other attributes He has abundantly revealed through Scripture, creation, and conscience. Rather than humbly trusting and obeying God, we arrogantly insist God submit to our demands, preferences, and expectations. Such testing righteously stirs God’s anger.
The Dangers of Testing God
The consistent message throughout Scripture is that testing God is dangerous and destructive spiritually. While God’s grace and forgiveness covers testing Him, we cannot escape the consequences of such defiant unbelief. Some dangers include:
- God’s discipline/punishment. Testing God’s patience often results in His correction to lead us back to repentance and wisdom (Numbers 14:11-12, Psalm 78:17-32).
- Deception and delusion. Persisting in unbelief may lead God to confirm us in it, giving us over to the deception we prefer (Romans 1:24, 2 Thessalonians 2:11).
- Loss of spiritual power/vitality. Continual testing can easily quench the Holy Spirit’s work in and through us (1 Thessalonians 5:19).
- Harm to our souls. Testing God indicates a sick soul out of communion with Him. We are crafted for faith and trust, not cynical suspicion of God’s character.
- Hindered prayers. Knowingly testing God by demanding signs and proofs indicates prayers not according to His will (James 4:3).
- Bad example to others. Our testing can influence weaker believers toward the same cynical unbelief and presumption with God.
In the end, testing God always backfires. We find ourselves exhausted from the mental and spiritual gymnastics of doubting His every promise. Our search for signs yields only restless hearts. We sacrifice the comfort, power and joy that could be ours if we trusted God at His word (Isaiah 7:9). Though the Lord is patient, disciplining us as needed, we harm ourselves most by stubbornly refusing to trust the One most worthy of our faith.
How to Avoid Testing God
Scripture offers wisdom for avoiding the sin of testing God:
- Remember who God is. Get a fresh vision of God’s glory, holiness, faithfulness and the honor rightly due Him (Revelation 4).
- Trust His Word and promises. God cannot lie. Take Him at His word by faith, regardless of circumstances (Hebrews 6:13-20).
- Cultivate contentment. Test anxiety rises from discontentment. Be content in God’s provision and sovereignty (Philippians 4:10-13).
- Look back in gratitude. Recall times of God’s proven faithfulness. Let gratitude dispel doubt (Psalm 77).
- Repent of arrogance. Admit that God owes us no explanations. We owe Him humble reverence and thanks.
- Accept mystery and ambiguity. God’s ways are beyond understanding. Trust Him when nothing makes sense (Isaiah 55:8-9).
- Lean on righteous counselors. Let mature believers whom you trust speak truth to strengthen faltering faith.
- Take refuge in Christ. Fix your eyes on Jesus. God already gave the ultimate sign of His trustworthy character (Hebrews 12:1-3).
The preventative medicine for not testing God is a heart overflowing with reverence for Him and His Word. It is clinging tightly to the cross of Christ, our ultimate refuge from doubt and sign of God’s immeasurable love. Grounding ourselves in God’s proven goodness sets us securely on the path of childlike trust and frees us from the cynical traps of testing Him.
Conclusion
Scripture paints a sobering picture of the danger of questioning the character of God Almighty. Though the Lord is patient toward our doubts and weakness, persistently demanding that God submit to our tests and demands is prideful, foolish and reveals hearts in desperate need of renewed faith through repentance. Yet when we approach our Father with humility, resting confidently in the sufficiency of Christ, we find the purpose for which we were made: to glorify God through lives of joyful trust in His eternal goodness and unwavering care.