Skip to main content

5 Signs You’re Passing the Test

By April 18, 2018Blog

When tests come, we try to do our best. We keep our faith strong, and ask God to make the tests easy. Yet how can we tell if we’re passing?

All it takes is a look inside, when things get rough outside.

 

Here are 5 ways we can tell we’re winning:

 

Gratefulness

What happens when things don’t go our way?  Do we complain and think the worst? Or do we think to ourselves, “Why us?”.

 

If we look to what happened before the test, we can be grateful.  We can appreciate the time of good before the time of bad.

Or look to those who have it worse off than us. Messenger Muhammad said, “Look at those who are beneath you and do not look at those who are above you, for it is more suitable that you should not consider as less the blessing of God.”

 

Maybe this present test is the worst thing we’ve ever been through, but it’s nothing to somebody else. We should get to know the hardships of others, so we can be grateful.

 

When we are grateful for the test, we realize

  • It could be worse
  • It’s nothing compared to what other people have to go through
  • The good things we still have are there, and we appreciate them more

 

Acceptance

We can tell if a test is a punishment by how we react to it.

 

If we’re freaking out and impatient, that’s a sign that we are not passing.  So, the opposite of that, acceptance, is what we show when we’re making progress.

Part of what can help us accept our test is that the Messenger of God told us, “Great reward comes with great trials. When God loves a people, He tests them, and whoever accepts it attains His pleasure, but whoever shows discontent with it incurs His wrath.”

 

So when God sends a test our way, we accept it as a test. We have a chance to get closer to God, to show Him that we are strong.

We accept the test, and we continue doing good things.  The test might make it harder for us, but with more work is more reward.

Humility

It’s amazing that just a slight change of our condition can totally throw off our day.  Like a hangnail, or a paper cut.

 

How fragile we are!  We’re top of the food chain, yet some small pain will cause us big problems.

And how sensitive we are. Our egos can be hurt so easily. Sometimes a test from God can be an chance to grow in humility.

 

The Messenger of God explained to us that God has tested the Prophets more than anyone else.  Then, the next best, and the next best people.

The more difficult the test, the higher in status we are. The Messenger continued to say that we are tested in accordance to our level of faith.

 

And tests and trials will continue to fall on us, purifying us our whole lives.

 

Asking Forgiveness

When you think about it, there isn’t a person living that is sinless.  Even the best people make mistakes and sin.

 

So we consider the tests of life, and realize that God is purifying us through them.  We admit we have sins to erase.

When tests come, we can take the chance to ask God to forgive us.

 

Messenger Muhammad told us, “Nothing befalls a believer, a (prick of a) thorn or more than that, but God will raise him one degree in status thereby, or erase a bad deed.

 

If we think to ask God to forgive us when we are in a test, then that’s a sign that we’re dealing with it well.

The tests of life are good for us.  Even if all we see in the test is a chance to have our sins erased.

Reflecting

‘Why me?’ is a common way to react when bad things happen. It’s a knee-jerk reaction, coming from pure defence.

 

We need to relax.  If we take a moment and reflect on the test, we might be able to see some good in it.  

Perhaps there’s a lesson in the test.  Even if it’s just a lesson on how not to be.

 

In the end, God has allowed something to happen to you. And He is the One Who plans everything for the best.

We praise and thank God for everything that happens, including the things we think are bad.

 

God does not allow any injustice to take place.  That means, eventually, justice will come. It’s not for us to force it to come, but for us to trust that God will sort things out.

 

In this life, or the next. And then, there’s this:

 

Messenger Muhammad said, “If a certain status has previously been decreed by God for a person, and he does not attain it by his deeds, God afflicts him in his body or wealth or children.

 

Think about the test.  Consider that God is lifting you up, bringing you closer to Him through it. So rather than ‘Why Me?’, we might start to say, ‘God chose me.’

 

Through our tests we always think the best of God.  We focus on Him, and His greatness and perfection. Whatever comes from God is good in the end, and will help us succeed in this life and the next.

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

1 Comment
Newest
Oldest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
sara farooq
sara farooq
1 year ago

Absolutely True! I went through the test and follow all the actions listed here…Now I think of it as a blessing of Allah! I am at peace now which is the greatest gift from Allah, and I am still getting worldly benefits miraculously. I am so blessed that Allah chose me. I love Allah!