THE CRISIS OF TEMPTATION
My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into temptations; knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. James 1:2, 3.
A crisis doesn't change us or our direction. It merely reveals to us where we were headed before it came along. It is interesting to notice that even temptation is a crisis. Every time the enemy hits us with a temptation, it is a mini-crisis--or sometimes a maxi-crisis! But a crisis, nonetheless. Every temptation that comes to us reveals to us, by its results, our direction at the time the temptation came.
If a person is not surrendered to God at the time of a temptation, there is little chance of surrendering then. What happens if we are apart from God at the time of the temptation is that we are then dependent upon our own backbone or willpower. The strong overcome, externally, on their own steam, while the weak don't make it at all. But internally, where it really counts, both are equal. Both give in to the temptation, because the devil is stronger than we are, and we will lose every battle with him that we attempt to fight in our own power.
In Hebrews 4 we are reminded of our great High Priest, and invited to come boldly before His throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. There is a sequence. We come boldly before His throne of grace now, that we may find grace to help in time of need, when that time comes. The person who comes before the throne of grace only in time of need will fail. When the time of need, the time of temptation, comes, it reveals whether or not that grace has been obtained. "We may keep so near to God that in every unexpected trial our thoughts will turn to Him as naturally as the flower turns to the sun"--Steps to Christ, pp. 99, 200. If trial comes, and we shake our fist at God and charge Him with dealing harshly with us, this reveals to us that we must have been walking some distance from Him. We do not know our own hearts. Some people who have thought that they could weather the storms on a thousand seas have drowned in the bathtub. We are so deceived concerning our own hearts. So, because of His love, God allows trials and temptations to come, that we may see things as they really are.
My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into temptations; knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. James 1:2, 3.
A crisis doesn't change us or our direction. It merely reveals to us where we were headed before it came along. It is interesting to notice that even temptation is a crisis. Every time the enemy hits us with a temptation, it is a mini-crisis--or sometimes a maxi-crisis! But a crisis, nonetheless. Every temptation that comes to us reveals to us, by its results, our direction at the time the temptation came.
If a person is not surrendered to God at the time of a temptation, there is little chance of surrendering then. What happens if we are apart from God at the time of the temptation is that we are then dependent upon our own backbone or willpower. The strong overcome, externally, on their own steam, while the weak don't make it at all. But internally, where it really counts, both are equal. Both give in to the temptation, because the devil is stronger than we are, and we will lose every battle with him that we attempt to fight in our own power.
In Hebrews 4 we are reminded of our great High Priest, and invited to come boldly before His throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. There is a sequence. We come boldly before His throne of grace now, that we may find grace to help in time of need, when that time comes. The person who comes before the throne of grace only in time of need will fail. When the time of need, the time of temptation, comes, it reveals whether or not that grace has been obtained. "We may keep so near to God that in every unexpected trial our thoughts will turn to Him as naturally as the flower turns to the sun"--Steps to Christ, pp. 99, 200. If trial comes, and we shake our fist at God and charge Him with dealing harshly with us, this reveals to us that we must have been walking some distance from Him. We do not know our own hearts. Some people who have thought that they could weather the storms on a thousand seas have drowned in the bathtub. We are so deceived concerning our own hearts. So, because of His love, God allows trials and temptations to come, that we may see things as they really are.
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