Job 1:12 Then the LORD said to satan, “Have you considered my servant Job?
Trial is a God permitted challenge or crisis to reinforce our faith and fortify our trust in Him. Temptations on the other hand are attacks of the devil in the most vulnerable and weak areas of our inner man. The demons plot and push us into temptations; then they shame and stigmatize us. While falling into temptations leave us condemned and guilty, the triumph in the trial refines us and makes us shine like pure gold. But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold (Job 23:10).
Temptations are satan’s snare to stumble us into sin while trials are God permitted setups for success.
Job is one of the oldest books in the Bible. Bible Scholars believe that he was a contemporary to Abraham. The character Job is not an allegory or a parable; he was a real man who suffered the fierce assaults of the demonic horde. The devil was not interested in Job’s wealth, his cattle, camels or his children; he was after his faith, confession and his testimony. In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing (Job 1:22). In the God permitted trial, Job’s temptation was to accuse, blaspheme and indict God for inflicting him with pain, privation and persecution. Job passed the ‘test of his tongue’ and overcame the temptation to blame God but bolstered his trust in Him. Job confidently said that he will be refined in the furnace of the trial and will come out victoriously.
Difference between Trials & Temptations:
1. Reveals: A temptation from a demonic ghetto will expose secret sins and hidden habits however, a trial will reveal the level of our trust in the tempest. We must triumph over the temptation by allowing the Holy Spirit to burn down unholy desires and profane passions hidden in the crevices of our heart.
2. Resist: A trial builds our resilience but a temptation breaks our self-esteem. To a person who is battling with alcoholism, an invitation to the bar will be a temptation that will make them fall into the trap of drunkenness again. Building the resilience to say ‘no’ will turn a temptation into a triumphant victory.
3. Refines: A trial permitted by the Lord would refine a person to become better and brighter but a temptation is instigated from the satanic realm to wreck dignity, ruin morality and wound the personality.
In the thunderstorm of trail, our resilience is reinforced and character is refined, but the purpose of a temptation is to baffle us with shame, stigmatization and condemnation.
Proverbs 28:13 If you hide your sins, you will not succeed. If you confess and reject them, you will receive mercy.
Prayer: Dearest Lord Jesus, help me to grow through the trials and give me your strength and anointing to resist the temptations of the fiendish attacks. Amen.
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