Trials and Temptations

They are the tag team of life.

You get hit by one thing after another.  The car breaks down.  The mortgage is late.  You get laid off.  You get 5 stitches in your finger, then get a $600 bill AFTER insurance has paid (personal experience there).  All these are relatively minor compared to the trials of a divorce, a death or a serious illness of a loved one or yourself.  Trials tear your heart, they bend your mind, and they work on breaking your soul.  And God's answer to this:

Consider it pure joy.

That's right, God says when life hands you lemons, make the best lemonade known to man.  Now, I don't expect anyone to stop praying for their trial to be over, but I don't think we should expect trials to end quickly.  They can, but God uses these times of stress to grow us, to mature us.  So the question is- what would God have us pray?

If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.  But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.--James 1:5-6


He would have us pray for wisdom- wisdom to deal with the adversity laid at our feet.  And He wants us to pray and believe He will answer our cry for wisdom.  This is not a "pray for health and wealth and TRULY believe and you will have it."  This is a prayer for the spiritual blessing of wisdom.  It's about growing your character, not your dividends.  It is about believing that no matter what is going on around you, God desires for you to have victory in the midst of it.  God is also telling us something in His command to ask for wisdom:

He knows the next part of the tag team is coming.


See, trials soften us up, make us distracted, make us spiritually weak if we aren't careful.  Then temptation swoops in and goes for the kill.  When we can say "I am worn out from my groaning. All night long I flood my bed with weeping and drench my couch with tears." (Psalm 6:6) then we are primed to fall into temptation.  Our defenses are down from dealing with the other junk going on, and lust, or greed, or selfishness, or lying seems much easier to go to than God.  And remember, it's not God who is tempting us- we must remember that.  We also must own our own role in falling to temptation.

"...but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed."  
                                                                                                --James 1:14


We allow ourselves to ponder, or think on a temptation, then it grows.  Perhaps one of the greatest temptations that comes when facing trials is to give up- on rescue and on God.  He doesn't seem to answer, He seems to have left us alone.  So the temptation is to tell God- "ENOUGH!"


God's answer to that- to any doubting of His character- is "Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created." (James 1:16-18)  


God is working for our good.  Yes, He inexplicably allows us to suffer- but He offers us wisdom to deal with it.  Yes, He allows us to choose temptation- but He offers an unshakable rescue.  

So, yeah, Trials and Temptations are tag teaming you.  But don't forget who the other (greater) half of your tag team is.