Bible Studies
Overwhelming Temptation And Adversity
Part Two
Whatever temptation or adversity that God does not remove, He intends for us to endure, having a divine objective in mind.
This includes all of the temptations and adversity, that without the enabling John 15: 5 power, and the Matt. 7: 24-27 doctrines to address it, WILL BE MORE than what we are able to handle.
Often times He does so to reveal to us areas of our spiritual life that we have either failed to prepare for BEFORE the storm hits, or have failed to make use of the means of escape or endurance that He has provided.
Instead of having to make a “911” or an “S.O.S.” prayer to God, or having to blow the dust off our unopened Bibles in search of immediate answers, an advancing disciple will already have the Biblical answer(s) to apply to whatever temptation or adversity he or she is facing.
For an advancing disciple, it is a matter of having enough faith to apply what he or she has already learned.
The late Charles Stanley was famous for saying that an advancing disciple will learn to do as God says, and then leave the responsibility for, and the outcome of, the situation in His hands.
This requires great faith on the part of an advancing disciple, especially when fear, the antithesis of faith, and human viewpoint pressures us to refrain from doing what His Word is telling us to do.
In some cases, we might say that it is beyond human ability and desire to always do what Biblical discipleship calls for, such as, “… love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray (in a positive way) for those who are abusive to you (Luke 6: 27, 28 NASB2020 parenthesis mine).”
But God never intended for us to do so with the limitations of our human resources. This is why He has provided us with the enabling power of John 15: 5, and warns us of the futility of trying to do so with the limitations of our human resources.
What we do not learn through discipleship, God will teach us through experience.
When facing temptation, it is the internal alarm system of one’s edified soul structure (1) that (should) identify when it is sin or evil that is knocking at our door, and what our immediate response should be.
But don’t forget that we can be distracted from the plan of God by relatively good things, if these good things are not a part of the plan that God has in mind for us, as an individual.
Satan’s distractions almost always begin by having us focus on something we don’t have. These distractions can involve sin, but can also involve things that in of themselves are not sin, but are designed to take the place of what God has in mind.
When these distracting things, or the desire for them, become the focus of our attention to the extent that they take the place of priority over and above God and the things of God, the devil has us right where he wants us.
Making a 2Cor. 13: 5 self-examination is always a good place to start when dealing with temptation, distractions, or adversity, to determine if sin is involved, and if there is the need for a 1John 1:9 confession, or a John 8: 11 plan to forsake an already-confessed sin.
When such an examination vindicates us, it must be considered that it is suffering for blessing that is associated with discipleship (2) that is in view. This form of adversity is sent or allowed by God, to promote the spiritual growth along the road to spiritual maturity, and or to advance the ministry of the one involved.
We seldom know ALL of the facts concerning what other people are going through. We often have only heard one side of the story, or worse, have drawn our own conclusion based only on what we have heard or seen.
Providing sound Biblical advice should always be provided with a balanced response, acknowledging the fact that we do not have all the information, and many times it is none of our business.
At the end of the day, rather or not there is or is not the need to repent, confess, or to forsake a sin is between the individual and God.
Temptation and adversity in the spiritual realm are unavoidable, but being stressed out is a form of self-induced misery that is a result of ignorance of, or refusal to apply, the means of escape or endurance that God has provided for us.
The reward for having built, maintained, and applied an edified soul structure (3), is NOT to have a trouble-free life, but to experience the peace that surpasses all human understanding in the midst of all the temptation and adversity that the devil and the Eph. 6: 12 forces of evil will throw at us.
(1) Matt. 7: 24-27 (2) Acts 9: 16 (3) Matt. 7: 24-27)
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