FLY

Pastor Alex Hall | November 23, 2025

When God Steps Back: Understanding the Testing Season

There's a profound moment in Scripture where King Hezekiah had everything. Second Chronicles tells us he possessed great riches, honor, treasuries of silver and gold, precious stones, spices, shields, and every desirable item imaginable. He had storehouses overflowing with grain, wine, and oil. He had livestock, flocks, cities, and possessions in abundance. The text makes it clear: God had given him very much property. Hezekiah prospered in all his works.

But then something unexpected happened. When ambassadors came from Babylon to inquire about the wonders God had performed in the land, Scripture records something startling: "God withdrew from him in order to test him, that he might know all that was in his heart."

This is one of the most important spiritual truths we can grasp: Sometimes God steps back not because He's abandoned us, but because He's testing what's truly in our hearts.

The Danger of Prosperity

When there's great prospering in our lives, there's a subtle temptation to believe it's because of us—our power, our might, our strength, our wise decisions, our careful planning. We start thinking we've made all the right choices, all the right investments, all the right moves. We begin to take credit for what God has done.

The testing season reveals who we'll give the glory to. Will we take it for ourselves, or will we give it to the King?

This isn't about God being insecure or needing our validation. It's about Him wanting to know what's truly in our hearts. It's about sanctification—the process of becoming more like Christ. Sometimes He withdraws His felt presence to strengthen us, to prepare us for the next season, to draw out more of what He's placed within us.

Drawing Near When He Feels Far

James 4 offers us a powerful promise: "Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you." This isn't a suggestion—it's a spiritual principle. Even when we don't feel His presence, even when it seems like He's distant, we must keep chasing Him, keep drawing near, keep getting into His word.

God is greater than our feelings. Too many of us let feelings serve as our compass in life. We make decisions based on how we feel rather than what we know to be true. But here's the reality: our emotions are unreliable guides. God's word, however, never changes.

This is why the principle "choices lead, feelings follow" is so crucial. We base our choices on the word of God, not on our fluctuating emotions. When we get into Scripture and consume it—really eat it—we begin to know the right decisions to make, even when we don't feel like making them.

The Power of God's Word

Proverbs 4 contains life-changing wisdom about God's word. It tells us to give attention to His words, to incline our ears to His sayings. That word "incline" means to lean in. When we change our physical posture, our spiritual posture changes. When we take a physical step of obedience, we receive something spiritually.

The passage continues: "Do not let them depart from your eyes; keep them in the midst of your heart, for they are life to those who find them and health to all their flesh."

God's word is medicine. It brings healing to our bodies and prosperity to our souls. Third John says, "I pray that you prosper in all things and in your health just as your soul prospers." Our soul prospers through the word of the Lord.

Some people experience instant miracles. For others, healing is a process as God's word does its work over time. But the principle remains: there is power in Scripture to transform every area of our lives.

Guarding Your Heart

Proverbs 4:23 warns us: "Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life."

This is critical. The issues in our lives—the problems, the struggles, the patterns—often flow from what we're allowing into our hearts. What are you consuming? What music are you listening to? What shows are you watching? Who are you spending time with?

If your marriage is struggling, examine what you're consuming. If you're constantly watching shows about divorce, adultery, and broken relationships, you're poisoning your own well. If you're spending time with people who constantly complain about their spouses, you're inviting that same spirit of discontent into your life.

We must draw lines in the sand. This isn't about legalism—it's about wisdom. If something is causing you to stumble, if it's opening a door to temptation, if it's pulling you into darkness, you need to shut that door.

The devil only needs a foothold. Once he has that, he builds a stronghold. But we have the power in Christ to tear down strongholds. The lies that say "it will always be this way" or "I can never change" are being demolished today.

Walking Your Own Path

One of the enemy's favorite tactics is to get us looking at other people's paths instead of focusing on our own. We look to the left and see what they have. We look to the right and covet what they've accomplished. We compare our beginning to someone else's middle or our middle to their end.

But Proverbs 4:25 tells us: "Let your eyes look straight ahead, and your eyelids look right before you."

Stop looking at someone else's path. You don't know when they sowed their seed compared to when you sowed yours. Seed time and harvest are real principles. Your job is to work the soil God has planted you in. Take care of your family. Love your spouse. Serve your church. Build up the people around you.

God wants to establish you in this season. He's given you a firm foundation. Don't believe the lie that He's forgotten you or that He's far from you. He's right there, building you up, making you strong.

Unity in the Body

In Mark 9, the disciple John came to Jesus concerned because someone was casting out demons in Jesus' name, but this person wasn't part of their group. Jesus' response is instructive: "Do not forbid him, for no one who works a miracle in My name can soon afterward speak evil of Me. For he who is not against us is on our side."

The church has spent too much time fighting itself. We get caught up in methods, styles, preferences, and secondary issues while losing sight of what matters most: Is Jesus being lifted up? Do they confess that Jesus Christ came in the flesh?

First John 4:2-3 gives us the test: "Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God."

It's that simple. Yet we complicate it with our preferences and traditions. The enemy loves to sow division among believers. He gets us focused on what makes us different rather than what unites us—our shared faith in Jesus Christ as Lord.

The Greater One Within

First John 4:4 contains a promise we must never forget: "You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world."

The devil wants to convince you that his ways are greater, that he has more power, that you're defeated. But that's a lie. The One who lives in you—the Holy Spirit—is infinitely greater than any force in this world.

You are not losing. You are winning in Christ. You are seated in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. The enemy is beneath your feet.

Conclusion

If you're in a testing season right now, take heart. God hasn't abandoned you. He's strengthening you, building you up, preparing you for what's next. Keep drawing near to Him. Keep consuming His word. Keep making choices based on truth rather than feelings.

Guard your heart. Watch what you allow in. Draw lines in the sand where needed. Focus on your own path rather than comparing yourself to others. Stand in unity with other believers.

And remember: He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. That's not just a nice saying—it's spiritual reality. Walk in that truth today.