September - Temptation
A man found a cocoon of an emperor moth. He took it home so that he could watch the moth come out of the cocoon.
On the day a small opening appeared, he sat and watched the moth for several hours as the moth struggled to force its body through that little hole. Then it seemed to stop making any progress. It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could and it could go no farther. It just seemed to be stuck.
Then the man, in his kindness, decided to help the moth, so he took a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bit of the cocoon. The moth then emerged easily, but it had a swollen body and small, shriveled wings. The man continued to watch the moth because he expected that, at any moment, the wings would enlarge and expand to be able to support the body, which would contract in time.
Neither happened! In fact, the little moth spent the rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body and shriveled wings. It never was able to fly. What the man in his kindness and haste did not understand was that the restricting cocoon and the struggle required for the moth to get through the tiny opening was God’s way of forcing fluid from the body of the moth into its wings so that it would be ready for flight once it achieved its freedom from the cocoon. Freedom and flight would only come after the struggle. By depriving the moth of a struggle, he deprived the moth of health.
Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our life. We would not be able to spiritually mature without trials and temptations. We would not be as strong as what we could have been.
1 Corinthians 10:13
13 No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.
The Greek word for “temptation” has a double meaning: trial and temptation. A trial comes from God who wants to make Christians. A temptation comes from the devil who wants to break Christians. God is ultimately in control and temptations can make us stronger. God allows us to be tempted, but has limited Satan so that he cannot force us to sin. We sometimes realize that we are not as close to God when we sin as a result of our temptations. God is faithful and never fails to provide the way of escape if we have the commitment to resist.
James 1:2-3
2 Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials,
3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.
This joy describes a deep sense of well being that comes from knowing that God is in control of everything in our lives. It is an assurance that he is constantly at work to develop within us character traits of endurance and patience. Christians will suffer trials to test their faith. The Christian faith is then strengthened if he is devoted. Testing strengthens our character. Trials produce character the same way regular exercise builds muscle tone.
Peter adds that testing proves our faith is genuine.
1 Peter 1:7
7 that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ;
When the heat is on, who we actually are, and what we truly believe is revealed. Peter also suggests that this tested faith gives praise, glory, and honor to God. Staying faithful through prolonged agony shows others how much we value God. Christians can face trials knowing that it is only for a short time compared to the eternity in Heaven. In Peter’s day, potters baked clay pots to give them strength. The process cracked those pots with flaws, but the ones that survived were proved genuine. Just as the pots had to be tested in the fire, so we too must endure the fire. Christians can stand any trial for they are nothing compared to the eternal glory that shall be for Christians. Life is a laboratory of faith. God tests us to confirm the strength of our faith and the sincerity of our commitment to him. Abraham was tested to sacrifice his son in Genesis 22.
Gen 22:1-2
22:1 Now it came about after these things, that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.”
2 And He said, “Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah; and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you.”
This is the most severe and last recorded trial of Abraham. The command was to kill Isaac who was the one through whom the promise could come. Abraham had more than enough time to reflect on this during the forty-two miles between Beersheba and the land of Moriah (Jerusalem), but nothing could move him from his purpose to obey God. Abraham was so committed to doing what God commanded that the act was counted as completed even though Isaac was saved from actual death. It is important to distinguish the difference between testing and temptation. We know that God tempts no one.
James 1:13
13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone.
Satan is the tempter.
Matt 4:1-3
1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.
2 And after He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He then became hungry.
3 And the tempter came and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”
God can use Satan’s temptations to test us. God converts what Satan intended for evil and uses it to achieve good. A good example is Job. Job never realized that God allowed his testing because he was pleased with him.
Job 1:8
8 And the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil.”
There may be no reason behind our testing other than that God is pleased with us. He may want to reveal himself to us and others through such testing. How many times have we wanted to take the quick way out of struggles and difficulties, to take those scissors and snip off the remaining bits in an attempt to be free? We need to remember that our loving Father will never give us more than we can bear and through our trials and struggles we are strengthened as gold is refined in the fire. May we never let the things we can’t have, or don’t have, or shouldn’t have, spoil our enjoyment of the things we do have and can have.
Don’t focus on the things you DON’T have, enjoy each moment of everyday God has given you.
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