One of the most consistent patterns in Scripture is this: Before every breakthrough, God allows a test. Before every promotion, He prepares the heart. Before every open door, He shapes the person who will walk through it.
Tests are not signs that God has abandoned you—they are often signs that God is near and something great is coming. Spiritually, tests expose your heart, strengthen your faith, refine your motives, and prepare you to carry the blessing without destroying yourself.
This teaching will deeply explore why God tests us, how He tests us, examples in Scripture, and how to respond when you are in your test before your breakthrough.
Understanding God’s Testing: What It Really Means
Many believers confuse God’s tests with Satan’s temptations. They are not the same.
Temptation
● Comes from the enemy
● Designed to make you fall
● Attacks your weakness
● Leads to sin and destruction
Testing
● Comes from God
● Designed to make you grow
● Strengthens your character
● Leads to promotion and breakthrough
“God tested Abraham…” Genesis 22:1
When God tests you, He is not trying to break you—He is trying to build you. He is purifying your motives and preparing you for the next level.
Note: God’s testing is a sign of divine trust.
He does not test those He does not plan to use.
Every great man or woman God used in Scripture went through a test:
● Abraham was tested before becoming the father of nations.
● Joseph was tested before becoming governor of Egypt.
● David was tested before becoming king.
● Job was tested before experiencing double restoration.
● Jesus was tested before beginning His public ministry.
If you are being tested, you are in good company. And your breakthrough is closer than you think.
The Purpose of God’s Tests Before Breakthrough
A. To Reveal What Is Inside You
Tests reveal your heart, your motives, your loyalty, and your maturity.
“The Lord your God is testing you to know what is in your heart.” Deuteronomy 8:2
Before God blesses you, He checks your heart.
B. To Prepare You for the Weight of the Breakthrough
Blessings require strength to carry.
Joseph needed to learn humility before managing a nation. Also, David needed to learn patience before leading a kingdom.
You need to develop spiritual capacity before receiving what you’re praying for.
C. To Separate You from What Cannot Go Into Your Next Level
Sometimes, the test is meant to disconnect you from wrong people, bad habits, wrong emotions, wrong locations, or wrong mindsets.
Breakthroughs require alignment.
D. To Strengthen Your Faith
Faith grows best in difficulty, not comfort.
“The testing of your faith produces perseverance.” James 1:3
God allows pressure so that spiritual muscles can form.
E. To Qualify You
Every promotion in the Kingdom comes after examination. Even Jesus was tested in the wilderness before stepping into His assignment.
A divine test is a spiritual qualification system.
The Four Major Ways God Tests People Before Breakthrough
1. The Test of Patience
This is one of God’s favorite tests. Breakthroughs rarely come quickly.
Abraham waited 25 years for Isaac and Joseph waited 13 years before the palace. David also waited about 15 years after the anointing before he became king. While Hannah waited years before Samuel arrived.
God uses delay to build strength in you and eliminate pride, fear, and doubt.
“Wait on the Lord; be of good courage…” Psalm 27:14
If you are waiting, you are in a divine classroom. Your breakthrough needs your maturity before it manifests.
2. The Test of Obedience
Before every major blessing, God gives a command that tests your willingness.
God told Abraham to sacrifice Isaac. He told Noah to build an ark in the middle of dry land. He also told Peter to cast his net again after catching nothing.
Jesus told the servants at Cana to fill jars with water before the miracle.
Obedience is the bridge between revelation and manifestation. Sometimes the instruction may:
● Not make sense
● Be uncomfortable
● Stretch your faith
● Demand sacrifice
● Challenge your understanding
But every time you obey, something supernatural happens.
“If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the good of the land.” Isaiah 1:19
Breakthrough follows obedience.
3. The Test of Character
God will test your integrity before trusting you with influence.
Joseph passed this test when he refused Potiphar’s wife. Daniel passed this test in Babylon by refusing defilement. And also, David passed this test by sparing Saul’s life.
You cannot pray your way into a level your character cannot sustain. Sometimes God delays a breakthrough because He is building the version of you who can keep it.
4. The Test of Faith in Impossible Situations
Many breakthroughs are born from situations that look dead:
● Abraham faced the deadness of Sarah’s womb
● Israel faced the Red Sea
● Elijah faced the empty barrel
● The disciples faced a storm
● Ezekiel faced a valley of dry bones
When God wants to show His glory, He often allows things to reach absolute impossibility. God looks at your reaction—not at the problem.
Will you complain? Will you panic? Will you give up? Or will you choose to believe?
“Is anything too hard for the Lord?” Genesis 18:14
You may be facing your “Red Sea moment”—that season where only God can come through.
Remember: the darkest moment is usually right before the breakthrough.
Bible Examples Showing God Always Tests Before Breakthrough
1. Abraham — Tested by Sacrifice
Before God established the covenant that made him the father of many nations, He tested him with the hardest instruction of his life.
Genesis 22
This was not about Isaac—it was about Abraham’s heart.
Breakthrough Principle:
God will ask for what you love most to see who you love more.
2. Joseph — Tested by Betrayal, Slavery, and False Accusation
Joseph had a glorious dream, but the road to fulfillment was painful.
He was:
● Hated
● Betrayed
● Sold
● Falsely accused
● Imprisoned
Yet God was preparing him.
The prison was actually the pathway to the palace.
Breakthrough Principle:
The deeper the pit, the higher the elevation God is preparing.
3. Job — Tested by Suffering
Job lost everything—not because he did something wrong but because he was too righteous. His endurance through suffering led to restoration and double blessings.
Breakthrough Principle:
Sometimes your test proves you before heaven and hell.
4. David — Tested by Delay and Persecution
David was anointed by Samuel, but instead of a throne, he received persecution from Saul. He lived in caves, ran for his life, and endured rejection. But that season built humility, courage, and spiritual stamina.
Breakthrough Principle:
Your anointing is immediate, but your appointment is tested.
5. Jesus — Tested Before His Ministry
Jesus was led into the wilderness by the Spirit to be tested. He faced hunger, pressure, temptation, and spiritual warfare. Only after the wilderness did He begin His miracles.
Breakthrough Principle:
Wilderness before wonders. Testing before testimony. Battle before breakthrough.
Signs That You Are Close to Your Breakthrough
1. The test becomes intense
Things may feel harder right before they shift. Satan attacks most violently when he knows your season is changing.
2. Old temptations suddenly return
The enemy wants you to fail the test at the edge of your promised land.
3. You feel spiritually stretched
God is enlarging your capacity.
4. You feel isolated
God often separates you before He elevates you.
5. God becomes silent
The teacher is always quiet during the exam.
How to Pass God’s Tests Before Your Breakthrough
1. Stay Faithful Even When Nothing Makes Sense
Your faithfulness is your proof. Faith does not remove tests; it gives you the strength to pass them.
2. Obey Quickly and Completely
Delayed obedience is disobedience. Partial obedience is disobedience.
Obey God even when you don’t understand His instruction.
3. Keep Your Heart Pure
Bitterness, anger, jealousy, or pride can sabotage your destiny. Guard your heart—your breakthrough depends on it.
4. Refuse to Complain
Complaining prolongs seasons; praise accelerates them.
Israel spent 40 years wandering because of murmuring.
5. Stay Connected to God Through Prayer and the Word
Tests are spiritual; you need divine strength, not natural strength.
6. Don’t Break Rank
Don't quit church. Don’t disconnect from spiritual authority. Don’t isolate yourself from accountability.
7. Speak What God Says, Not What You Feel
Your words are spiritual seeds. Speak faith, not fear.
“I will see the goodness of the Lord.” Psalm 27:13
Your Breakthrough Is Coming
Nothing you are facing is wasted. God is using every delay, disappointment, betrayal, challenge, and hardship to prepare you.
Remember:
● Abraham waited → breakthrough came.
● Joseph suffered → breakthrough came.
● David ran → breakthrough came.
● Job cried → breakthrough came.
● Jesus endured → breakthrough came.
Tests do not stop breakthroughs. They announce them.
You are not being buried; you are being planted. What feels like pressure is actually preparation. You are in the stretching phase because God is enlarging your territory. You are facing warfare because you are carrying a prophecy. Your test is the last gate before your breakthrough.
Hold on. Stay faithful. Stay obedient. Stay pure. Stay prayerful. Stay expectant. God is writing a testimony out of your test.
Your breakthrough is not just coming— it is already forming.
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