Trials, Temptations and Tests

1 Corinthians 10:13(NIV) – No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.

Trials, Temptations and Tests

The basic meaning of temptation (peirasmos) is simply to test or prove. The Bible uses the term in both ways. In his letter James wrote, “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials”  (1:2). The nouns trials and testing are from the same Greek root as the verb tempted.

In life we all will face trials, when we do, we need to understand that God permits trials in our lives.

He allows circumstances in our lives to test us. We usually do not, at the time, recognize them as tests, certainly not from God. But our response to them proves our faithfulness or unfaithfulness. How we react to financial difficulty, school problems, health trouble, or business setbacks will always test our faith, our reliance on our heavenly Father. If we do not turn to Him, however, the same circumstances can make us bitter, resentful, and angry.

Notice that in 1 Cor 10:13 as well as in James 1:2, Paul and James say "when" not "if".  We can be sure we will all face some kind of trial or temptation.  But be not discouraged we have faithful God!!

What is Common to man

Paul says there is no such thing as a superhuman or supernatural trial. Trials are human experiences and they are common. Trials are never unique experiences to us. We can never have a trial that has not been experienced by millions of other people. Circumstances differ but basic trials do not. Even the Son of God was “tempted in all things as we are” (Hebrews 4:15).  No temptation is inherently stronger than our spiritual resources. We sin because we willingly sin.

God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able.

When our faithfulness is tested we have God’s own faithfulness as our resource. We can be absolutely certain that He will not allow [us] to be tempted beyond what [we] are able. That is God’s response when we pray. He will not let us experience any test we are not able to meet.

Christians should recognize that victory is always available, because a believer can never get into any temptation that he cannot get out of.

Way of escape

But with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, that you may be able to endure it.

The phrase the way is formed by the definite article and a singular noun. In other words, there is only one way. The way of escape from every temptation, no matter what it is, is the same: it is through.

Whether we are tested by God to prove our righteousness or a tested by Satan to induce to sin, there is only one way we can pass the test. We escape temptation not by getting out of it but by passing through it. God does not take us out; He sees us through by making us able to endure it.

God provides three ways for us to endure temptation: prayer, trust, and focusing on Jesus Christ.

First we are to pray. “Keep watching and praying, that you may not come into temptation,” Jesus told His disciples (Mark 14:38). If we do not pray, we can be sure a test will turn into temptation. Our first defense in a test or a trial is to pray, to turn to our heavenly Father and put the matter in His hands.

Second, we must trust. When we pray we must pray believing that the Lord will answer and help us. We also trust that, whatever the origin of the trial, God has allowed it to come for our good, to prove our faithfulness. God has a purpose for everything that comes to His children, and when we are tested or tempted we should gladly endure it in His power—for the sake of His glory and of our spiritual growth.

Third, we should focus on our Lord Jesus Christ. “For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you may not grow weary and lose heart. You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin” (Heb. 12:3-4). Christ endured more than we could ever be called on to endure. He understands our trials and He is able to take us through them.

In John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress -- Christian and Hopeful fall asleep in a field belonging to giant Despair. The giant finds them and takes them into Doubting Castle, where he puts them in a dark and stinking dungeon, without food or water. On his wife’s advice, the giant first beats them mercilessly and then suggests they commit suicide. After the giant leaves, the two companions discuss what they should do. Finally Christian remembers the key in his pocket. “I have a key in my bosom called Promise, that will, I am persuaded, open any lock in Doubting Castle.” Sure enough, it opened all the doors in the castle and even the gate. “Then they went on, and came to the King’s highway again.”

Our response to trials and its effects can be vastly different when we understand the character of God and His purposes. So when you face trials be confident, God is in control !

Pray, Trust and Focus, the Lord will help us  through!

Have a Blessed Day!