• God uses the tests of ministry
preparation to build and make
grow, not to tear down those
whom He called.
• To assess and examine
the true inner attitudes
and motives of those
whom He calls
(1 Timothy 3:10)
• To sort out those who are
really called by God
• To equip those whom God
called with spiritual
understanding needed to
help people
• The leader’s patience is tried
• The purpose:
for growth in faith
Illustration: Abraham (Gen.12-18)
• Ishmael was born when he was 86
• Isaac was born when he was 100
• The leader experiences
circumstances that seem
to nullify the written or
living word of God
• The purpose:
to depend on God alone
Illustration: Joseph Genesis 37-45
• The leader’s worldly
character must be eliminated
• The purpose:
leader’s own true inward self
be exposed and must call
more on God’s grace
Illustration: Samuel (1 Sam. 2-3)
• The inner and outer forces
influencing his decision
making process are tested
• The purpose:
to disclose in a leader his
inner drives and
• The purpose:
purify them into desires for
the glory of God
Illustration: Balaam, (Num. 22-24)
• The leader’s humility is tested by
asking him to do menial tasks that
seem below his high calling in
God
• The purpose:
to discern the leader’s
commitment to service
• The purpose:
if he really desires to help and
to serve or to be popular
Illustration: Elisha (1 Kings 19)
• The leader is put in a materially
and spiritually dry or desolate
place
• The purpose:
to appreciate the good things
God has put in his life and
• The purpose:
to strip the leader of all the
wisdom and ways of the
world and to teach him the
ways of His Spirit
Illustration: Moses (Exodus 2-3)
• The leader’s expectation is not
fulfilled on time
• The purpose:
for all the leader’s right be
yielded to the Lord Jesus Christ
• The leader’s expectation is not
fulfilled on time
Illustration: Noah (Gen. 5-7)
-at 500 years, start building the ark
-At 600 years, flood came
• The leader’s ministry and life’s
goal can’t be achieved
• The purpose:
to re-examine his spiritual
priorities
Illustration: Paul (2 Corinthians 11)
• The leader is place in a
disheartening situation that will
deprive his courage in the Lord
• The purpose:
to meet God in prayer
Illustration: Elijah (1 Kings 19)
• The test wherein God’s will
counters with man’s plan
• The purpose:
to subject man’s will to
God’s will
Illustration: The Lord Jesus Christ
(Matthew 26)
• The leader is put on the shelf
• The purpose:
leader depends too heavily on
his actual service rather than
the Lord himself for joy and
spiritual fulfillment
• The purpose:
- to humble the leader
- to purify the motives
of the leader
- to deepen the message
of the leader
Illustration: John the Baptist (Matt. 3
Mark 1, Luke 1, 3, John 1)