This post is a follow-up (sorta) to this one. I did say at the end that I wanted to take a look at testing vs. temptation so I am going to take a stab at it. Please remember that I am not a theologian, and am still in the process of learning. The problem I have sometimes is taking what is in my brain and making my fingers work by putting it in English and not ancient hieroglyphics. 🙂 Please read with an open mind and feel free to disagree if you want. I anticipate that I may even have to dedicate another post to follow up since I have been working hard to keep my posts at a certain limit.
NOTHING NEW: CONFLICT. COMES. IN. ALL. SIZES, SHAPES, AND COLORS.
Like I said…nothing new or earth-shattering. But sometimes the conflict itself is a struggle. What I mean is the common malady many face: is this from God or is it from the enemy? I don’t know how many times I have asked myself over and over (more than I care to think): is God trying to teach me something? Am I missing something here? I cannot remember how many times people have said to me and (to my shame) I have said to people, “Maybe God is trying to teach you something.” To make matters worse I may add: “And you/I are/am just not listening.” UGH! That pains me to even write that down. Who can possibly know the mind of God?
MAYBE IT IS NOT GOD TRYING TO TEACH YOU SOMETHING AT ALL! MAYBE IT IS THE ENEMY TRYING TO TEAR YOUR HEART OUT AND RIP YOUR SOUL APART!!
Get my drift? There are two words and two verses that we have to come to grips with. The words: testing vs. temptation. The verses: “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.” (I Cor.10:13) The other verse: “Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life…Let no one say when he is tempted ‘I am being tempted by God.’ ” (James 1:12-13a) It is so easy to see the problem…least I think so. What about those who give into temptation? What about those who falter under a trial? What about all those high-profile leaders who have fallen & will fall to the pull of sin? What about all those whose backs broke under the weight of the trial that literally kicked their butt, chewed them up, and then spit them out? But I thought…..??? What about the statement we hear so often: “Well, God won’t put more on you than you can bear.” Is that true? REALLY? Could it be (and I am just thinking out loud) that we have been lied to? If not, then I have some serious questions about giving into temptation and bearing up under trials.
I have already gone past my self-imposed limit of length. May I ask you to come back tomorrow to help me develop this further? I believe there is a distinction between temptations and trials that can help. But, I would like to know your thoughts on what I wrote today. How do you answer the statement highlighted in the previous paragraph? I’d like to know your thoughts.
I firmly believe that perseverance develops character. I think because, in the end, we get to embrace the things we believe in (God will come through, He is good, He is gracious, etc.). If I believe His word to be true, then I want to take those verses (in 1 Cor and James) and cling tight to them….
I firmly believe that perseverance develops character also. The Bible even says that. 🙂 And I also believe He is good and will come through for me and with me. Thanks for commenting Dustin.
Word of clarification: I don’t believe God is lying to us. I wonder about that statement being a lie because I am not sure I see it in the Scripture concerning trials. Anyone?
Hi Bill,
No, as far as I’ve read the Bible, I’ve not seen.
I believe that God never puts on us more than we can bear. It’s that we tend to think it’s more than us when we are faced with this temptation or testing. What’s He there for when we feel we don’t have the power to face it all alone? When we call on Him, He’s there to answer.
I really like this post.
Hi Mercy,
I agree with what you say here Mercy. Some of our temptations are really about us, and not necessarily about dark spiritual forces working in our lives. We have weaknesses that show up dramatically in certain circmstances that come our way in life.
I agree also that our first line of defence is to call on God and ask for his deliverance and his help. I think that sometimes we don’t call on God because we are wrestling with the option of possibly letting ourselves fall to temptation. If we are entertaining our temptation why would we want to ask God to help us get out of it?
This I believe is one side of the coin.
The other side is that we do have an enemy. A real spiritual enemy. The Bible says that this enemy knows people by name. He(she?:0 ) knew about Paul, he knew about Jesus etc. I believe that this enemy knows our names as well if WE have some effectiveness in the world and in our life for God and the things of God.
I think that the Bible says that if the devil had known the plan of the cross he would not have crucified the Lord Jesus. This statemet shows that the devil was actively involved in the crucifiction of Jesus.
I think sometimes that we can be subject to burdens greater than we can bear. Especially if these burdens come to us ‘out of season’ so to speak. At times when we are not ready for them. My feeling in these circumstances is to surrender. At this point it has to be a Sovereign God thing.
It seems that the three Hebrew children who were companions to Daniel did this. they said ‘God is able to deliver us but if he doesn’t…. we will not serve your gods nor worship the image of gold you have set up.” Daniel 3:12
I think that at some point we have to leave things in the hand of the soverign God. The heroes of Hebrews 11:36-40 seem to have found themselves in places where they were not delivered or saved from trials.
these are just my thoughts at this time. I’m in the middle of a struggle, trial, and temptation myself right now.
My question is in your first paragraph Linda. Sin may be about us and our sinful desires, but who put it there? Was it and is it not the father of lies? that makes it a dark spiritual force. I do like your use of S, M, & A and their “eve if” quote. I do agree with most of what you say though and appreciate your input.
Hi Linda,
I’ll be praying for God to see you through this trial.
thank you Mercy! I will be praying for you also.
This is cool you two. One of the reasons I like blogging. One from Canada. One from Nigeria.
Thanks mercy for the kind words. As I raised the question in the post: if the statement is true then why do we fall? Still wondering I reckon. I do agree He is there when we call on Him.
Bill,
Thanks for putting our thinking caps on. 🙂
I can give you the theological answer. No, God will never give us more than can we handle, and will always make a way out.
Then, I can give you my own personal views. To be honest, there have been times where I’ve felt like this is way beyond my capacity to bear. God, I need You to step in . So maybe it’s not really God putting more on us than we can bear, but really Him stepping in because he knows that our human capacity to bear is limited and shaky. I don’t know if this makes sense at all, and I could be wrong. But, this is something I’m still trying to grasp.
Makes sense Jon. And welcome to the club of “trying to grasp.” I have been a Christian for longer than you are old, and I still can’t grasp it all. 🙂 I do appreciate your input and thinking out loud.
Temptation is the work of the fallen angel. God Doesn’t test us ( He knows we will fall).What he does do is give us the ability to resist temptation if we are sincere in our faith.The more we resist the more intense the temptation. As it is in the comics. On one hand you have the fallen angel just heaping temptation on you like there is no tomorrow. On the other hand there is God ( all loving and forgiving) gently assuring you that you can resist evil. Who wins depends on your commitment, faith, and chioce.
You stole some of my thunder for the next post Larry! 😉 But that is okay. I always appreciate help.
I’m never believed that line. It doesn’t make any sense. It’s cute, don’t get me wrong – but there are just too many examples of people not handling what’s put on them. suicide? people’s lives crumbling – we sometimes even have great things given to us that we can’t handle.
My point exactly Charlie. What about those who couldn’t handle it any more? I think you and I would do well on this point sitting and talking. 🙂 thanks.
Bill,
You said:
“Who can possibly know the mind of God?”
We can. Paul teaches us:
“For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, THAT HE WILL INSTRUCT HIM? But we have the mind of Christ.”
1 Corinthians 2:16
I understand what you are saying here. Without the Spirit, it surely is impossible to know a one thing about our Father and His will. But…
Maybe upon seeing this awesome Scripture from Paul, it might change your…mind. If indeed we are new creations, (and we are), why would this new person we have become lack knowing God intellectually?
Just a passing thought, not a rebuke or condescending comment! You have my respect, Bill. I will not tread upon it.
I understand the use of the Scripture donald. I truly do. However, i still question anyone knowing what is in God’s mind as He works in our lives. I still question how anyone can know what is in God’s mind for the future. Know what I mean? I welcome your thoughts on this. Seriously. I am searching for truth. I always welcome your input my friend. No disrespect thought.
I don’t think God and “the enemy” spend their days tempting and testing us as we go through life.
I do think that giving in to certain tempting things can bring short term pleasure and long term pain. Some people need to feel the pain before they figure it out. Some people need to shoot themselves in the foot multiple times before they get the message and others figure it out without firing a shot.
I think it has more to do with inate human nature than “The devil made me do it”
And to think we know WWJD or what God thinks is really delusional.
I would agree with you jeff in that I don’t think they spend their days doing their thing. However, I do believe that the enemy (Satan) and God have different reasons for things. I am not sure I agree about the innate human nature since we do have the sinful nature within us, which would lend us to doing things the wrong way. Hmmm, I’m not even sure I understand what I just wrote. 🙂
I think that he puts more on us than we can “humanly” bear so that we will run to Him. With Him–with His strength, power, guidance–we can bear anything.
I hope to cover that in my next post Matt. The whole purpose is to run to Him. Thanks.
I believe it although I may not be able to see it. I believe His word and eventually the way out will be enlightened by the Spirit. I may feel like it is more than I can take, and I will fail. You have made a really good point. I noticed something yesterday with those on the road to Emmaus. Their hearts were “strangely warm” and I have been “feeling” God in my solar plexus lately so now I am interested in noticing if the evil one communes in my head with thoughts while the Spirit lives in my heart where He splits spirit and soul…hmmm will seek the strangely warm and see what the fruits are…Great thoughts Bill!
Good point Tom: I believe it although I cannot see it. I believe His Word when He says “He will not leave or forsake.” Praying you will continue studying while your soul is saturated with Him. Thanks.
I wrestle with things along the same lines. I often think about Jesus saying that the rain falls on the just and unjust alike. So when I add that into what you ask I come up with questions like: What is just life happening (like rain the rain) and what is temptation (like you highlight from Corinthians) and what is a trial (like what you highlight from James)?
Now to answer your question – I think John the Baptist got more than he could bear when he lost his head. Jesus did not save him in that situation when he thought he would.
Not sure that this is one of those questions that you or I will ever will really be satisfied with any answer.
You raise some good questions Jim. I hope to address the trial/temptation difference later today. 🙂 How’s that for shameless promotion? But you may be right also: we may never be satisfied. Thanks for the input.
There is a great message from Craig Groeschel called “Urban Legend: More Than You Can Handle” which addresses the difference between I Cor 10:13 and the belief that God will not give you more than you can handle. In actuality, we are often faced with “more than we can handle” and I believe the correct response to that is to run to God. He will not necessarily deliver us from the situation but give us strength to get through it.
If you have time, watch this:
http://www.lifechurch.tv/watch/urban-legends/3
It is soooo good to hear from you Jim. I was riding today (finally quit raining long enough) and was thinking about you guys. Prayed for your family this morning also. Thanks for the link. I plan to listen since it is high on my question list right now.
Perhaps i am oversimplyfing… but I have understood typically that trials come out of our obedience to God… While temptation comes in an effort to hinder our Obedience to God… Trials we are to endure… Temptations we are to RUN from without looking back.
Well, well, well, if it isn’t the long lost traveler. 🙂 Hope you guys are having an phenomenal vacation. As I write this it is 2:30. in 1/2 hour my next post will hit the blog and you will see what I stole, I mean, you stole, I mean I wrote earlier this morning. You, my friend, are IMHO right on the money. Say hi to Amanda and the kids.
You are asking many of the questions I have about temptation. I am curious to see where you are going to go with it.
I have too many questions and thoughts to type in response so I will wait until tomorrow…thanks for some good dialogue Bill…
i wish I had the answers! 🙂 Sure would make life a whole lot easier. I am happy about the dialogue Julie. people are thinking and not just rattling of “party” thought. I hope the future post will help. Always good to hear from you.
I do think that God will give you more than you can bear, so that He Himself can bear the burden for you. Sort of like what he said to Paul, “my strength is perfected in your weakness”. (paraphrased).
When it comest to temptation, he will ALWAYS provide a way out. But it doesn’t say the way out is easy.
Good analysis Moe. Love hearing your wisdom and take on things. Thanks for helping the discussion.