FORGET NONE OF HIS BENEFITS, volume 9, number 17, April 29, 2010
Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, James 1:2.
Trials and Temptations
A man has a great, well paying job, beautiful wife, wonderful children, and loves the Lord. Another man who also loves the Lord with a great paying job, with the same family situation, loses his job in a corporate re-structure. Which of these two men faces a trial and which a temptation?
We traditionally are taught that trials come from outside circumstances and temptations are from within. So, in the two scenarios above, the first man doesn’t seem to face either trial or temptation. Things are going well for him. Where’s the trial and where’s the temptation? The second man, however, seems to be the one who is facing a trial. This is something coming at him from the outside, due to his circumstances. Most of you probably think neither man is facing a temptation. You may say that temptation is only something the devil does to us working through our flesh and indwelling sin.
You may know that in James 1:2 and 13 the same Greek word peirasmos is used, and is alternately translated “trial” and “temptation.” Many commentators say that we supply the appropriate English word according to context—if the event is external, then it is a trial allowed or ordained by God; but if it is internal, then it is a temptation from the devil.[1] But a trial may be internal and a temptation external. A man who has a woman come onto him at work faces an outward temptation; and a woman who is suffering hormonal issues faces an inward trial.
This distinction, therefore, does not seem helpful. After all, God foreordains everything that comes to pass (Psalm 103:19, 115:1-3, Isaiah 25:1, Ephesians 1:4-5, Romans 8:29-30) and that includes all calamity (Isaiah 31:2, 45:6-7, 47:6-11, Amos 3:6, Acts 2:23). The devil can only do what God “allows” him to do (Job 1:12, 2:6). The devil is not sovereign. And besides, rarely will a man, like the first one mentioned above, who has it all going for him, view his blessings as a temptation or a trial.
May I suggest, therefore, that we ought to view every situation in life as both a trial and temptation! Trials come from God, and temptations come from the devil. Yes, we must make a distinction between the two, but they come together. Every circumstance in life—whether big or small, significant or insignificant—is ordained by God. He is there in every one of them but the devil is right behind Him! In 2 Samuel 24:1 God’s anger against Israel incited David to number Israel and Judah. The same story is told in 1 Chronicles 21:1, reporting that Satan “stood up against Israel and moved David to number Israel.” So on the one hand God brought this test before David, but on the other hand, Satan tempted him. Obviously God and Satan have different ends in mind. God wants the trial to bring growth in holiness (Romans 5:3-5, 1 Peter 1:6-7). He wants to test you, to humble you, to see what is in your heart, and to see if you will obey His commandments or not (Deuteronomy 8:2). Satan wants to destroy you (John 10:10, 1 Peter 5:8), to accuse you (Revelation 12:10).
Here’s how this works practically. The man who is living large—who has the beautiful wife, great job, lovely children, who walks with Christ—is daily facing both trial and temptation. The trial comes from God who is saying to him, “I have put all these things before you. Will you honor Me with these blessings or will you use them for yourself? I want to see you grow in likeness to Christ through these things I have given you.” Satan, on the other hand, is right behind God saying, “You did all this yourself. Exalt yourself. Forget about God.” The second man, who loses his job, also faces a trial from God and a temptation from the devil. God is saying to him, “I have put this job loss before you to test you, to build holiness in you, to increase your faith. Will you trust Me?” And Satan comes behind God and says, “Look what your faithfulness to your God has wrought! Give it up. God does not care about you. Curse God and die.”
When you see both God’s trial and Satan’s temptation in every circumstance, you can then better understand the Apostle James’ intense command to consider it all joy when we encounter various trials. Actually, James is commanding us always to rejoice in all trials, all the time. When we hear something like this we easily dismiss it as impossible, or at best, as something only really committed Christians can do. James does not command us to feel joy, but to consider all things as joy. He is commanding a Biblical mindset, a God-centered way of thinking about our trials. We almost always think in mutually exclusive terms, in an “either-or” context. “Either I rejoice or I grumble. Either I rejoice or I cry.” James is not saying that considering everything all the time with all joy means you cannot weep. A man who loses his wife of fifty years to breast cancer will weep, but he can still rejoice at the same time. How? Because he is able to see both God and Satan in the circumstance of his wife’s death! He knows God is there to build his faith, to sanctify him. He knows he will one day see his wife again, though the pain of separation is real and palpable. He knows Satan is right there too, seeking to discourage him, to lead him into despair. When he “sees” God, remembering that He is all wise and good, that He turns everything in due time to good, then he can rejoice. When he “sees” Satan, remembering that he is tempting him to sin, to grumble, to give himself over to despair, to look to artificial means for comfort, then he can resist the devil, knowing that the devil must flee from him (James 4:7).
The words we translate joy are used over eight hundred times in the Bible and mean a heartfelt attitude of exultation that springs from faith (Philippians 1:25), is produced by the Holy Spirit (1 Thessalonians 1:6), and reveals itself in life’s circumstances (Acts 5:41).[2] You are able to think, to consider every circumstance in your life with exultant joy because you are a slave of Christ. You have no rights. You are bought with a price (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). You have no right to life, to pleasure, to wealth, to anything. You are bound to Jesus who will have His way with you, and His way, ultimately and always is for good. It always produces in you an eternal weight of glory (2 Corinthians 4:17). It always works to conform you to the image of Christ (Romans 8:29). It always works in you to do and to will for God’s good pleasure (Philippians 2:13). Rejoice always.
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[1] R.C.H. Lenski, Commentary on James, page 524; Simon Kistemaker, Commentary on James, Epistles of John, Peter, and Jude, pages 32, 49; Fritz Rienecker, Linguistic Key to the Greek New Testament, page 721
[2] Thayer’s Greek English Lexicon of the New Testament, page 665.
FORGET NONE OF HIS BENEFITS is a weekly devotional by Reverend Al Baker, pastor of Christ Community Presbyterian Church in West Hartford, Connecticut.
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