God Tests Us to Reveal What He Already Knows

It’s a question many Christians have asked at some point in their walk with God: If God knows everything, including what’s in our hearts, why does He test us? Why would an all-knowing God need to examine something He already sees perfectly?

It’s a fair question, especially when we read passages in Scripture that seem to suggest God is finding out what’s in someone’s heart through testing. Consider these examples:

• Deuteronomy 8:2 – “God led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not.”

• Deuteronomy 13:3 – God allows false prophets to arise “to test you, to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.”

• 2 Chronicles 32:31 – God left King Hezekiah to himself “in order to test him and to know all that was in his heart.”

At first glance, these texts seem to imply that God needed a test to learn something. But then we read other Scriptures that state without question that God already knows our hearts:

• 1 Chronicles 28:9 – “The Lord searches all hearts and understands every plan and thought.”

• Jeremiah 17:10 – “I the Lord search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways.”

• John 2:25 – Jesus “knew what was in man.”

• Acts 1:24 – “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all…”

Clearly, Scripture affirms God’s complete omniscience. So what gives? Is God testing us because He doesn’t know our hearts, or is something deeper going on?

Knowing in More Than One Way

The answer lies in understanding that the Bible speaks of knowing in more than one sense. There is informational knowing, and then there is experiential knowing. A wife may say she knows her husband loves her. But when he makes a profound sacrifice for her, she may say, “Now I really know.” She’s not learning new facts; she’s experiencing truth lived out.

The same is true of God. He is not ignorant of what’s in our hearts. But He chooses to know it in action, through lived obedience, faith, or failure. In other words, God tests us to bring out what He already sees in us. He’s not discovering; He’s revealing.

This is not a contradiction but a divine intention. Just as the Apostle Peter told Jesus, “You know all things; you know that I love you” (John 21:17), Jesus still pressed Peter with three questions Do you love me? not because He doubted, but because He was drawing Peter’s love into expression.

God Delights in Displayed Faith

Think of it this way: a musician may know the tune in her heart perfectly. But there is something beautiful and powerful in playing it aloud. The performance doesn’t add to her knowledge it reveals it and shares it. Likewise, God delights in seeing faith lived out, love expressed, and obedience walked through, because it glorifies Him and matures us.

Psalm 1:6 gives us another angle: “The Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.” This doesn’t mean God is unaware of what the wicked do. Rather, the word “knows” here expresses approval, delight, and intimate recognition. God knows the righteous in a relational way—He is near to them in affection. That’s a different type of knowing than mere awareness.

When God tests His people, He is not gathering data. He is displaying His grace. He is drawing out the very faith, love, and obedience that He Himself planted.

Tests Reveal, Not Inform

So why did God test Israel in the wilderness? Why did He leave Hezekiah to be tested? Because He was bringing to the surface what was beneath. He was revealing to them, and to all watching, whether faith was genuine.

Testing, in Scripture, is often less about God discovering something and more about you discovering it yourself. In Deuteronomy, God says He tested Israel “to humble you and to know what was in your heart” but who needed to learn that lesson? Israel did. In testing, God educates us in our own spiritual state. The trial shows whether we trust Him or not. And the testimony that follows encourages others.

This process mirrors what we see in Judges 3:4, where God allowed some pagan nations to remain in Canaan “in order to test Israel.” God knew whether they would obey or not but through the test, they and others would see the reality of their faith (or lack thereof).

The Danger of Open Theism

Some theologians argue that these verses show God doesn’t know the future or the heart with perfect clarity a theology called open theism. This belief suggests that the future is “open” even to God, and that He learns along the way.

But this contradicts the overwhelming testimony of Scripture. The Bible repeatedly affirms that God not only sees the heart, but knows the end from the beginning (Isaiah 46:10). Jesus predicted Judas’s betrayal with divine certainty not as a good guess, but as proof of His identity: “I am telling you this now, before it takes place, that when it does take place you may believe that I am he” (John 13:19).

God doesn’t test to learn. He tests to teach, to prove, and to glorify Himself through the outworking of His will in us.

Your Trials Have Purpose

If you’re going through a trial right now, remember: God already knows your heart. But He may be testing you to show you what’s in it. He may be drawing out faith you didn’t know you had, patience you thought had run out, or love that had grown cold. In testing, He’s forming Christ in you.

James 1:3 reminds us, “The testing of your faith produces perseverance.” Tests are not divine doubts they are divine tools. They bring out what God planted. They make the invisible visible. They transform knowledge into experience.

And in that, God is glorified not because He learned something new, but because His grace in you was displayed.

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