The Purpose of Tests

It’s easy when we’re in the middle of tests, to blame ourselves or others for our misfortune; or to believe we are being punished by God. At those times, it’s helpful to remember that God sends us tests for a variety of reasons.

Tests are Decreed by God:

The words he wrote to one of the American Assemblies in December 1923 sound almost like a soliloquy: “The inscrutable wisdom of God has so decreed that we, who are the chosen bearers of the world’s greatest Message to suffering humanity, should toil and promote our work under the most trying conditions of life, amidst unhelpful surroundings, and in the face of unprecedented trials, and without means, influence or support, achieve, steadily and surely, the conquest and regeneration of human hearts.” (Ruhiyyih Khanum, The Priceless Pearl, p. 74-75)

Tests Are God’s Favour to Us:

To the loyal soul, a test is but God’s grace and favour; for the valiant doth joyously press forward to furious battle on the field of anguish, when the coward, whimpering with fright, will tremble and shake. So too, the proficient student, who hath with great competence mastered his subjects and committed them to memory, will happily exhibit his skills before his examiners on the day of his tests. So too will solid gold wondrously gleam and shine out in the assayer’s fire. It is clear, then, that tests and trials are, for sanctified souls, but God’s bounty and grace, while to the weak, they are a calamity, unexpected and sudden. (Abdu’l-Bahá, Selections from the Writings of Abdu’l-Bahá, p. 181)

Tests are Blessings in Disguise:

Trials and tribulations, as Bahá’u’lláh says, are the oil that feed the lamp of the Cause, and are indeed blessings in disguise. (Shoghi Effendi, The Compilation of Compilations vol. I, p. 148-149)

Tests Enable Us to Recognize God:

We have decreed that every long life shall in truth suffer decline and that every hardship shall be followed by ease, that perchance men may recognise the Gate of God as He Who is the eternal Truth, and verily God shall stand as witness unto those that have believed. (The Bab, Selections from the Writings of the Bab, p. 47-48)

Tests Allow us to Prove our Belief in God:

Even as He hath revealed: ‘Do men think when they say “We believe” they shall be let alone and not be put to proof?’ (Bahá’u’lláh, Kitáb-i-Íqán, pp. 8-9)

Tests Help Us Draw Closer to God:

Thou hast afflicted them for no other purpose except to proclaim Thy Cause, and to enable them to ascend into the heaven of Thine eternity and the precincts of Thy court. (Baha’u’llah, Prayers and Meditations by Baha’u’llah, p. 157)

Tests Purify Us:

There are before you so many temptations, trials, afflictions, calamities and difficulties because you have to be purified through fire and sifted through the sieve in order to separate the wheat from the tares. Verily, I say unto you: none will be saved but the believers, and from the believers only the sincere, and even those are in great danger, especially in such a time. (‘Abdul-Bahá, Baha’i Scriptures, p. 443)

Tests Cleanse the Mirrors of our Hearts:

These tests, even as thou didst write, do but cleanse the spot­ting of self from off the mirror of the heart, till the Sun of Truth can cast its rays thereon; for there is no veil more obstructive that the self, and however tenuous that veil may be, at the last it will completely shut a person out, and deprive him of his portion of eternal grace. (‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, p. 182)

Tests Help us Become More Perfect:

You are encouraged to continue to keep in mind the spiritual dimension of your struggles. We are assured by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in the following words: “The more difficulties one sees in the world the more perfect one becomes. The more you plough and dig the ground the more fertile it becomes. The more you cut the branches of a tree the higher and stronger it grows. The more you put the gold in the fire the purer it becomes. The more you sharpen the steel by grinding the better it cuts. Therefore, the more sorrows one sees the more perfect one be­comes. That is why, in all times, the Prophets of God have had tribula­tions and difficulties to withstand. The more often the captain of a ship is in the tempest and difficult sailing the greater his knowledge be­comes. Therefore I am happy that you have had great tribulations and difficulties… Strange it is that I love you and still I am happy that you have sorrows. (‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Star of the West, Vol. XIV, No. 2, p. 41)

Tests Help Us See Contrasts:

The Almighty hath tried, and will continue to try, his ser­vants, so that light may be distinguished from darkness, truth from falsehood, right from wrong, guidance from error, happiness from misery, and roses from thorns. (Bahá’u’lláh, Kitáb-i-Íqán, pp. 8-9)

Tests Help us to be Steadfast:

It is easy to approach the Kingdom of Heaven, but hard to stand firm and staunch within it, for the tests are rigorous, and heavy to bear. (‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, p. 274) O maid-servant of God! The circumstances will be severe for every thankful servant (i. e., believer in the Teachings) in those boundaries and countries. The people shall arise against you with the most bitter hatred, opposition and envy. Swords of persecution and curses shall be thrown at you by all the nations. The wind of tests and trials shall fiercely blow and thereby the weak trees, which are not firmly rooted in this wonderful vineyard, shall be uprooted. But the trees which are strong, thriving and green will be strengthened, their branches extended, their leaves opened, their appearance beautified and their blossoms and fruits increased. I ask God to make thee one of those firmly rooted trees and an extended branch in this most great vineyard, and to make thy heart like unto a cup overflowing with His love in every assemblage. Verily He is the Powerful, the Generous! (Abdu’l-Bahá, Tablets of Abdu’l-Bahá v2, p. 268-269)

Tests Give Us the Motivation to Resist Temptation:

In order to appreciate this statement let us remember that many people whoso believe in God may be truthful and honest in a normal situation. But the real criterion of a man’s truthfulness and honesty is his attitude at the time of temptation. When severe tests and trials descend upon man, the only thing which keeps him truthful is his faith in God. If he does not believe in God, there is no motivation within him to resist temptation. (Adib Taherzadeh, The Revelation of Baha’u’llah v 2, p. 314)

Tests Enable Us to Shine Resplendently:

Not until man is tried doth the pure gold distinctly separate from the dross. Torment is the fire of test wherein the pure gold shineth resplendently and the impurity is burned and blackened. At present thou art, praise be to God, firm and steadfast in tests and trials and art not shaken by them. (Abdu’l-Bahá, Selections from the Writings of Abdu’l-Bahá, p. 120)

Tests Bring Us Everlasting Felicity and Supreme Strength:

I know that thou art in difficulty, but this difficulty is conducive to the everlasting felicity and this weakness is followed by the supreme strength. Consider thou how the faithful women in the time of Christ, and after the departure of His Highness, underwent hardships! What difficulties did they not bear; and what calamities did they not endure! But adversity and trial, misfortune and derision, became the cause of imperishable and deathless glory and rest. (Abdu’l-Bahá, Tablets of Abdu’l-Bahá v2, p. 264-265)

Tests Lead The World to its Destiny

Many and divers are the setbacks and reverses which this nation, extolled so highly by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, and occupying at present so unique a position among its fellow nations, must, alas, suffer. The road leading to its destiny is long, thorny and tortuous. The impact of various forces upon the structure and polity of that nation will be tremendous. Tribulations, on a scale unprecedented in its history, and calculated to purge its institutions, to purify the hearts of its people, to fuse its constituent elements, and to weld it into one entity with its sister nations in both hemispheres, are inevitable. (Shoghi Effendi, Citadel of Faith, p. 36)

Tests Guarantee the Future of the Cause

There is always an important difference between friends and tested friends. No matter how precious the first type may be, the future of the Cause rests upon the latter. (Shoghi Effendi, The Light of Divine Guidance, vol. 1, p. 34-35)

We’re not alone in our tests. Even the prophets and saints experienced them:

The Prophets and saints were, each and every one, subjected to the bitterest afflictions that the world has to offer, and were targets for all the cruelties and aggressions of mankind. They sacrificed their lives for the welfare of the people, and with all their hearts they hastened to the place of their martyrdom; and with their inward and outward perfections they arrayed humanity in new garments of excellent qualities, both acquired and inborn. (Abdu’l-Bahá, The Secret of Divine Civilization, p. 34-35)

Fortunately, it’s only in this world that we are tested:

As to the second question: the tests and trials of God take place in this world, not in the world of the Kingdom. (Abdu’l-Bahá, Selections from the Writings of Abdu’l-Bahá, p. 194)

Hopefully, now that you know the reasons we are tested, you will be better able to accept and overcome them!

How has this helped you understand tests differently? Post your comments below!