Through temptation and trouble

Two kinds of trial

When you come to faith and start going to church, the gathering of people who belong to Jesus, you may expect life to get easier. The Bible tells us plainly that believers meet trials too. James writes, "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, when you encounter trials of many kinds" (James 1:2), and a few lines later, "When tempted, no one should say, ‘God is tempting me’" (James 1:13). The first is a hardship that tests our faith; the second is a pull towards sin. In the Greek of the New Testament both are one word, peirasmos (πειρασμός), with its verb.

One hardship can be both. Illness, money worries or a broken relationship can make faith stronger, or drag us into bitterness and sin. God uses trials to build us up; the devil, also called Satan, an evil spirit set against God, uses them to bring us down.

When temptation comes

Temptation does not come from God: "God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He tempt anyone" (James 1:13). It takes hold of desires already in us, and "after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin" (James 1:15). But God does not leave us alone in it:

And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide an escape, so that you can stand up under it.

1 Corinthians 10:13

Jesus himself was tempted by the devil in the wilderness, and three times he answered with Scripture: "It is written" (Matthew 4:4). So Hebrews can say of Jesus, and invite us:

We have one who was tempted in every way that we are, yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

Hebrews 4:15-16

Grace is God's kindness to people who have not deserved it, and we come to his throne in prayer. Paul tells us to "put on the full armor of God" (Ephesians 6:11) and to take up "the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God" (Ephesians 6:17). The Holy Spirit is God, one with the Father and the Son. Some temptations we stand and fight, firm in the faith: "Resist the devil, and he will flee from you" (James 4:7, 1 Peter 5:8-9). Others we run from: "Flee from youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace" (2 Timothy 2:22). Learn where and when temptation finds you, keep away, and do not fight alone.

The Reformed churches grew from the sixteenth-century Reformation, a movement to renew the church by Scripture, in the line of teachers such as John Calvin. Presbyterians are the best known; the Reformed churches of continental Europe are another branch, and among Baptists the Reformed Baptists confess the same faith. Their confessions, written statements of what a church believes, point us to the one we lean on in this fight. The Heidelberg Catechism, a catechism that teaches by questions and answers, explains a line of the Lord's Prayer, the prayer Jesus taught, "And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one" (Matthew 6:13), like this:

Since we are so weak in ourselves that we can not stand a moment, while our deadly enemies—the devil, the world, and our own flesh—assail us without ceasing, be pleased to preserve and strengthen us by the power of thy Holy Spirit

Heidelberg Catechism, Q. 127

‘Flesh’ here is not the body but what remains in us that leans towards sin. The Westminster Confession adds that when God leaves his children for a season to temptation, he does it for just and holy ends: to humble them, to draw them into a closer dependence on himself, and to make them more watchful against sin Westminster Confession 5.5.

You will still fall at times. Falling into the same sin again is not the end: "if anyone does sin, we have an advocate before the Father — Jesus Christ, the Righteous One" (1 John 2:1). An advocate is one who speaks for us. Do not hide; confess it to God and get up again, as Sin, repentance, forgiveness showed.

When trouble comes

Not all suffering is punishment. When the disciples asked whose sin had made a man blind from birth, Jesus answered, "Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but this happened so that the works of God would be displayed in him" (John 9:3). God is at work in trouble: "suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope" (Romans 5:3-4), and "God works all things together for the good of those who love Him" (Romans 8:28).

Paul himself begged three times for his "thorn in my flesh" (2 Corinthians 12:7-8) to be taken away, and it stayed. The Lord answered him:

My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness.

2 Corinthians 12:9

Lament is prayer too. A psalm cries, "How long, O LORD? Will You forget me forever?" (Psalm 13:1) and ends, "But I have trusted in Your loving devotion" (Psalm 13:5). Psalm 42 tells a downcast soul, "Put your hope in God" (Psalm 42:5). You need not hide your pain from God. And he comforts us "so that we can comfort those in any trouble" (2 Corinthians 1:4).

The Heidelberg Catechism's first answer confesses that without the will of my Father in heaven not a hair can fall from my head, and that all things must work together for my salvation Q. 1. It teaches God's providence, his upholding and ruling of all he has made, so that health and sickness, riches and poverty come ‘not by chance, but by his fatherly hand’ Q. 27. And it names the benefit of knowing this:

That we may be patient in adversity, thankful in prosperity, and for what is future have good confidence in our faithful God and Father that no creature shall separate us from his love

Heidelberg Catechism, Q. 28

Other traditions also believe that God is with us in suffering and brings good from it; how they explain his rule is set out in Providence, in the doctrine course.

Some teach that faith brings health and plenty, so that sickness and want show a lack of faith. The teaching comes from a wish to trust God's goodness and power, and it reads promises such as "I pray that in every way you may prosper and enjoy good health" (3 John 1:2). The Reformed and the other historic churches answer from the whole of Scripture: Jesus said the blind man's suffering was not for his sin; Paul lived with his thorn by grace, and wrote, "I have learned to be content regardless of my circumstances" (Philippians 4:11). It is right to pray for healing, but not being healed does not mean having no faith.

When trouble runs deep, do not carry it alone. Talk to your pastor and to believers you trust. Depression and illness need doctors as well as prayer; to take treatment is not a failure of faith but to receive help God gives. If things are so dark that you want to die, tell someone close to you and a doctor today. Read also Is depression a lack of faith?, Is sickness a punishment for sin?, Does suffering have meaning? and Why does a good God allow evil?

This week

When temptation comes, pray a verse aloud. As Jesus answered with Scripture, learn 1 Corinthians 10:13, or "lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one" (Matthew 6:13), and pray it aloud when you are tempted.

Tell a believing friend what you are struggling with. You do not have to tell everything. Ask them to pray for you, and pray for them too. The next lesson is about belonging to a church.

Practice