What Is It?

What is the purpose of a spiritual test?  Is it really a test or possibly something else?  What if it is both and neither?  Let’s explore.

Purpose of Tests and Exams

Typically, tests and exams are given to evaluate the level of knowledge we have acquired for a particular topic.  A passing grade demonstrates that we have attained a given level of competency in a subject area or demonstrated adequate proficiency in some usable skill, such as a trade.

Exams can also be designed to evaluate our mental agility.  They test whether our cognitive abilities are flexible enough to shift to new and innovative ways of perceiving a particular situation, or set of things. 

This is valuable for those who do data mining, theoretical work and especially in our spiritual life.

Data Mining and New Discoveries

When many government departments around the world first started putting their accumulated records on Compact Discs (CDs), data miners were the first to make use of this information. 

They analyzed decades of data collected by these various agencies.  They looked at everything: i.e., agriculture, astrophysics, supply chain availability, population data, and so on.  The vast amount of unexamined statistical records led to 7 – 8 new discoveries each month, throughout the world. 

All of these discoveries were made from information that already existed.  Nothing new was added. 

The vast depth of information just hadn’t been examined in its collective form.  It gave the data miners the 1000-foot/meter view.  It made it possible to see things that were not evident at all before.

So it is with the events of our lifetime(s).  We are all data miners of our own accumulated life experiences, and those whose path intersects with ours.

The Unexamined Life

Socrates said, “The unexamined life is not worth living.”

In knowing that, we can use our receptive awareness, combined with self-reflection, to learn the lessons embedded in our life events.  We can avoid the turmoil often associated with spiritual growth.  Our ongoing evolution can be done with greater ease and a much smoother path.

Tests Are Placed in Our Life for Us

As we move along in our earthly existence, our Higher Guidance — which includes the Universe, our High Self, guides and the Divine (God) — will use specific events (tests) from our Life Plan to show us our own level of mental, emotional and spiritual clarity about ourselves.

What do we mean by clarity?

Clarity and Awareness

As we discussed in the What Do We Really Want in Life? blogpost, of the six factors that affect work center performance, Clarity was the one dimension that boosted the other five.  It is spiritually powerful! 

No matter which area of life that a test situation happens, our actions show us the “hows” and “whys” behind our own motivations and decisions.  It shows us the level of the clarity about our own self-knowledge and self-awareness.

Convergences and Intersections

So, why do we have convergences of events that seem to intersect with one another at the least opportune moment? 

They happen in order to illuminate the maximum number of interrelated causes that created the life test event in the first place.  This allows us to see things in multiple, yet related, ways that we would otherwise not perceive.

The Purpose of Tests

Spiritual tests are gifts from our own Higher Guidance to make us aware of areas needing our attention in any area of growth.

The purposes of spiritual tests are to give us the opportunity to use our awareness and perceptual clarity, so that we can see the results of our own beliefs, attitudes and actions in the world…  then to apply the lessons we learn in our own life.

Insights Gained from Life Tests

In the beginning of this writing we asked, is it really a (spiritual) test or possibly something else?  You can decide.

Life tests can show us…

• We have a deficiency in one (or more) of the many skill areas required to complete a job, task, or function.

The “test event” may have made us realize that we can no longer avoid learning or doing that “thing” we dislike.  We must acquire its lessons in order to perform well in that particular area.  This allows us to move forward in our growth, spiritual or otherwise.

• The results we were expecting are not the ones that come from what we are doing.

We found that being the supervisor in that dream job didn’t bring us the fulfillment and happiness we associated with it.

I have seen two nuclear engineers switch to Information Technology (IT) because it gave them the satisfaction that nuclear engineering did not.  This job-change positively affected every area of their life, not just their vocation.

• That the outcome of a life test provided us clear guideposts for a new direction.

Unexpectedly, we realize what it is we were meant to do, that one thing that will bring us joy.  When this happens, a person suddenly understands their real desires.  Often, they completely change careers or life direction, like a financier becoming a musician or priest.

• That we are further along in our learning or growth than we thought.  In fact, we may have mastered a particular area.

This happened to me.  At one point in my career, I was totally absorbed in IT.  There was IT and my spiritual life, and little else.

Then, after having completed a major new network design, configuration and installation, everything changed.  Suddenly it occurred to me that there were no more mountains for me to climb.  Whatever I needed to learn, I could quickly absorb.  The fulfillment, joy and “fun” were gone. 

Within months, I was unexpectedly transferred to a new type of Navy job that totally eliminated IT.  It shifted me into other areas of life and growth.

Choose to Reflect

When we choose to reflect and learn from the activities of our life, both in the short and long terms, the “tests” will become fewer and farther between, as we absorb our life lessons each day, rather than ignoring them until they unfold in a major life event, that many call a test. 

As we learn from these test events, we can then make new choices to alter our life trajectory so it better reflects our true nature, our High Self, allowing us to navigate the higher pathways of our Life Plan.

The choice is clearly ours to make.