Fossils, family deaths, difficult times in someone's life, and temptations have all been described as tests of faith. These are all things that could lead someone astray from God. Fossils could encourage someone's questioning and/or belief in evolution which would which would cause him to disregard the commonly known theory of creationism. Difficult times in a person's life such as an early death of a family member could make that person wonder if there really is a God, because surely he wouldn't let such a thing occur to them.
Where do these tests come from? If God is omniscient, good, and wants as many people in heaven as possible they surely don't come from him. Being omniscient, he would know how someone would react to a test, and being good he wouldn't want anyone to fail the test. So, why would an omniscient, good God test someone knowing they would fail? He wouldn't. We could replace either of those adjectives, omniscient and good, with their acronyms and could understand why a test of faith would be from God. An omniscient "bad" God could present a test to a person because he wants that person to go to hell. A good God, who wasn't all-knowing, could test someone's faith without even knowing he was doing it, but if he did know he was testing someone he still wouldn't know if that person would pass or fail. So it would make no sense for a good omniscient God to test someone's faith. He wouldn't test someone who he knew would fail, because he wants that person in heaven. He wouldn't test someone who he knew would pass, because he would know he would pass and it would be a waste of time and prove nothing to God.
So, do these tests come from God's arch-nemesis, the devil? Let's assume they do. If what are known as tests of faith come from the devil, it would seem he's working much harder than God is to sway someone's beliefs. We don't hear of many talking serpents, talking bushes, rivers of blood, walking sticks turning into serpents, virgin births, or resurrections nowadays. Rather we hear about fossils and other discoveries further enforcing the theory of evolution quite often. We hear about death sentence sins like homosexuality being deemed natural and impossible to reverse by psychiatric and psychological experts.
God makes it clear that he doesn't want to be tested, but why does he stand by while we are constantly being tested? The tests seem much harder today. The first documented "test of faith" was the tree of knowledge. Genesis 2:9 "And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil." So, it's clear God created this original temptation. Whether it was the fruit of the tree, the persuasiveness of Eve or the serpent, God created all these things.
The serpent in the garden of Eden is always considered the most evil creature that has ever lived. Just think back to how the serpent was portrayed in fils we would watch in Sunday School about Genesis as kids. Reading Genesis today, however, no evil, scheming images of a snake appear in my head. All the serpent did was tell Eve that God lied to them when he said they would die the very day they ate from the tree of knowledge. Never does the snake say, "Eat from the tree." Rather the conversation between Eve and the serpent was more like this. "Did God say you would die if you ate from the tree in the midst of the garden? Yes. Well that's not true. You will just know between good and evil as the Gods do." Genesis 3:1-5
For whatever reason, Eve decided to take the gamble of life or death for the fruit and it ends up being true that Adam and Eve wouldn't die if they ate from the tree. On the contrary, Adam lived to be 930 years old! So, God lied (sinned) and the serpent told the truth, but the serpent is the bad guy.
How did this serpent in Genesis know more than the humans in Genesis? Did God not instruct the other animals to not eat from it, so the serpent had and knew it wasn't fatal? What was the tree doing there in the first place? Was the reason God condemned eating from the tree that would result in knowing good from evil because he knew he would be considered evil? Is God omniscient and evil? Is God good but lacking omniscience? Is God?