Temptation and the Providence of God

Have you every wondered why God allows us to be tempted? According to the Scripture , God has good purposes for allowing His children to struggle with temptation and sin. Let's look at five purposes that God has in allowing us to face temptation.

1. God allows us to face temptation and sin so that He can demonstrate His fatherly love for us, His children.

And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons?

“My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord,
nor be weary when reproved by him.
For the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
and chastises every son whom he receives.”

It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. (Hebrews 12:5-7, ESV)

2. God allows us to see the lingering corruption and deceitfulness of sin in our hearts so that we will be humbled before Him.

For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin. (Romans 7:22-25, ESV)

3. God allows temptation and sin to teach us to depend on Him and the provisions that He has made for us through Christ.

So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:7-10, ESV)

4. God allows temptation and sin to make us more watchful and aware of future occasions of sin. In other words, God helps us to grow in His grace (i.e. sanctification), so that we are better prepared to walk in holiness.

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. (James 1:2-4, ESV)

5. God uses temptation and sin to accomplish purposes that He has not revealed to us.

The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.(Deuteronomy 29:29, ESV)

When Words Are Many

"When words are many, transgression is not lacking,
but whoever restrains his lips is prudent." --Proverbs 10:19 (ESV)

According to my mother, I came out of the womb with my mouth open and screaming. And if you were to ask her, she'd probably say that there isn't much that has changed except that I now use words instead of grunts and cries. So, I think it is safe for me to say that words are very important. It is difficult for me to imagine life without words--whether spoken or written. Words are essential for me as I live as a husband, father, and minister. Yet, words can also place me (and you) on dangerous ground. According to Proverbs 10:19, a particular danger is lurking when "words are many." I imagine that most of us can remember situations where we which that we had kept our mouths closed instead of babbling away: "When words are many, transgression is not lacking." Maybe it was a conversation that turned to gossip or a discussion that involved harsh and unloving words. No matter what the particular circumstances were, I believe that all of us have been guilty of a transgression of speech. In James 3:6 we are reminded that "the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness."

But it doesn't have to be this way. By God's grace we can learn to restrain our lips: "but whoever restrains his lips is prudent."

Count It All Joy

"Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing" (James 1:2-4)(ESV).

In these few verses, we are commanded to do two things: (1) Count it all joy when you meet trials of various kinds and (2) Let steadfastness have its full effect. Although these commands are easy to read and agree with, they are much more difficult to obey. Joy and sufferings seem to be unlikely friends, but we are told to cultivate joy in the midst of sufferings. So, why is it that God calls us to "count it all joy" when we encounter suffering and trials? James gives us the answer: "for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness." If our suffering was useless and didn't produce anyhing, then I do not believe that we could be able to have joy. Yet, God who is rich in mercy and grace, has ordained that our faith to be tested so that He can produce something: steadfastness. In regard to steadfastness (perseverence), Simon J. Kistemaker writes the following:

The believer experiences a testing in the sense of a refining process. That is, his faith is being refined, much the same as gold is subjected to the smelter's fire (Prov. 27:21). As the goldsmith removes impurities that are foreign to the metal, so God purifies the believer's faith from sin. Gold, however, is an inanimate quantity that is and remains passive through the refining process. Man's faith can never be passive. It is active. Faith, as James points out in his epistle, must be accompanied by action; otherwise it is dead (2:17).

So, how can we have an active faith in times of testing? Not only must we "count it all joy" when we are faced with trials, but we must also "let steadfastness have its full effect." Over the last few months Amy and I have gone through a lot of trying times, and I began to think: "God, I know that You have used these trials to help us grow and mature, but don't you think we have went through enough for a while?" I have come to realize that my attitude was sinful. God is the One who knows how long we should suffer and go through trials. He is the One who brings trials in our lives, and He is the One who will determine when our trials should end. In reality, I wasn't trusting in God's sovereignty. God is in control, and I want for "steadfastness have its full effect" because I know that God is in the process of molding and refining me so that I "may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing."

So, how about you...do you have an active faith? Are you joyfully going through trials? Are you allowing steadfastness to have its full effect? Do you realize that God is doing something great in the midst of your trials?

May God strengthen each of us as we submit to Him.