Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?” John 6:67
There are four tests of faith in John 6, and if you are a Christian, you will face all of them at some point in your life.
The first is the test of personal limitations. We saw this in the story of the feeding of the 5,000. A vast crowd of people had gathered to hear the teaching of Jesus in the desert. Jesus said to Philip “Where are we to buy bread so that these people may eat?” (6:5). Jesus said this to test Philip because He already knew what He would do. The test for Philip was an overwhelming need that was well beyond the limits of his own resources.
Sooner or later you will come to a place where you are faced with something that you feel is beyond you. You don’t have the strength. You don’t have the stamina. You find yourself saying “I don’t have what it takes to do this.” But Philip was calculating without Christ, who multiplied the loaves and fish so that everyone ate as much as they wanted.
The second is the test of spiritual darkness. The disciples set out across the lake in the evening. Their boat got caught in a storm, and Jesus was not with them. The disciples spent the entire night straining on the oars.
There will be dark times in your life when the wind is against you, and what you need to know in the darkness is that Jesus is interceding for you, and that nothing can separate you from the love of Christ.
Are you facing either of these tests right now?
