How Do I Survive a Testing Season?

Pastor Alex Hall | June 6th, 2026

Breaking In: How to Survive a Testing Season

Life has a way of hitting us when we least expect it. Just when we think we've got it all figured out—when the vision is clear and the future looks bright—suddenly we find ourselves in the pit. Betrayed. Rejected. Forgotten. The very things we thought would propel us forward seem to be the things that knock us down.

But what if those hits aren't meant to destroy us? What if they're actually breaking us in?

The Breaking-In Process

Think about a brand-new baseball glove—stiff, rigid, beautiful to look at but completely unusable in a game. It's got potential, sure, but it's not ready. To become game-ready, that glove needs to endure 500 to 1,000 catches. Some experts say closer to 1,500 or 2,000 for it to be truly comfortable and reliable. It gets beaten with a mallet, steamed at 200 degrees, and repeatedly oiled until finally—finally—it becomes the supple, dependable tool it was designed to be.

We're not so different from that glove.

God gives us visions and dreams of what lies ahead. He shows us glimpses of our destiny, wraps us in coats of many colors, and whispers promises over our lives. But between the vision and the fulfillment lies the valley—the place where we're tested, tried, and yes, broken in.

Count It All Joy

James 1:2-4 offers what might seem like impossible advice: "Count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing."

Count it all joy? Even the betrayal? Even the rejection? Even the false accusations and the forgotten promises?

Yes. All of it.

The word "count" here means to command, to take authority, to govern. It's not about feeling joyful—it's about choosing joy. It's about commanding your soul to align with truth rather than letting your circumstances dictate your emotional state. Your spirit, united with the Holy Spirit, has the authority to govern your heart, your feelings, and your emotions.

This doesn't mean denying the pain. It means refusing to let the pain have the final word.

Joseph's Thirteen-Year Breaking-In Period

Joseph's story illustrates this beautifully and brutally. He received a God-given vision that one day his brothers would bow before him. But that vision came with a price tag he never anticipated.

First came rejection—his own brothers threw him in a pit. Then slavery—sold to Potiphar's house. Then false accusation—Potiphar's wife lied about him when he refused her advances. Then prison—years locked away for a crime he didn't commit. Then being forgotten—even by those he helped.

Thirteen years.

Thirteen years from the pit to the palace. Thirteen years of hits, one after another. If that glove could talk after 500 strikes, it would probably say, "That's enough! I'm ready!" But it wouldn't be. Not yet.

Joseph wasn't ready yet either. But God was working. Every hit, every trial, every moment of suffering was shaping him into the man who could stand before Pharaoh and save nations from famine. The vision was real, but the breaking-in process was necessary.

Don't Look at the Hits—Look at Him

Second Corinthians 4:16-18 reminds us: "That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are small and won't last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever. So we don't look at the troubles we can see now. Rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen."

Our present troubles are small. They won't last very long.

If eternity were represented by a rope stretching from here to the end of the world, your entire life—every trial, every test, every moment of suffering—would be the size of a grain of rice at the beginning of that rope. It's easy to lose perspective when you're in the middle of the storm, but the storm is temporary. The glory being produced is eternal.

When you're getting hit, it's natural to focus on the pain. But you have to lift your eyes. You have to look up. Remember Abraham on the mountain with Isaac? When he looked up, he saw the ram caught in the thicket—God's provision in the moment of greatest testing.

Don't Dry Out

A glove that isn't regularly oiled becomes stiff, cracked, and useless. The same is true for us. The oil represents the Holy Spirit—the presence of God that keeps us supple, responsive, and alive even in the driest seasons.

Don't rely on your own strength. Don't fall back on religious routine. Stay connected to the source. Worship in spirit and truth. Let the oil flow.

Jeremiah 17:7-8 paints this picture: "Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit."

Even in drought, you can produce fruit. Even when everyone around you is dried up and desperate, you can remain green and flourishing because you're connected to living water.

Guard and Guide Your Heart

Proverbs 4:23 warns: "Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life."

In this testing season, you must become the priest of your own temple. Your spirit, united with the Holy Spirit, has authority over your soul and body. You can command your heart. You can preach to yourself. You can prophesy life over the dry bones of your circumstances.

What are you letting into your heart? What are you watching, listening to, reading? Who are you surrounding yourself with? Sometimes what feels like loss is actually God's protection—separating you from influences that would hinder the vision He's given you.

Rally Your Heart

When you're exhausted from the hits, when you feel dried out and done, remember Psalm 103:1-5: "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits: who forgives all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from destruction, who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies, who satisfies your mouth with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's."

Rally your heart. Remind yourself of who He is and what He's done. Don't be so focused on the hits that you forget His benefits. He's the healer, the deliverer, the redeemer. He's done it before, and He'll do it again.

The Unrecognizable Transformation

When Joseph's brothers finally came to Egypt during the famine and bowed before him—fulfilling the very vision that started his journey—they didn't recognize him. Thirteen years of testing had transformed him so completely that he was unrecognizable.

That's what this season is producing in you. You're becoming unrecognizable to the people who knew you before. The hits, the tests, the trials—they're not destroying you. They're transforming you into someone capable of carrying the weight of the vision God gave you.

You're Not Giving Up

You might have come to this moment ready to quit. You might be on hit number five and feel like you can't take 995 more. But you're not giving up. You're not done.

No weapon formed against you will prosper. What the enemy meant for harm, God is using to prosper you. Every trial is producing supernatural, eternal fruit—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

You're being broken in for the game ahead. Stay in the oil. Keep your eyes fixed on Him. Command your soul to count it all joy.

The vision is real. The hits are real. But so is the God who works all things together for the good of those who love Him. Hold on. The glory ahead vastly outweighs the present trouble.

You're not destroyed. You're being prepared.