James 1:12-15

Trials

James calls the man under a trial blessed. Why? Trials are meant to test our faith. Once we pass the test we are approved by God. When we are approved by God we receive the crown of life. It is in the trials that we learn to love God. He walks with us in our trials. We learn the character of God when we experience Him in our trials. It is this experience that we grow to love God.

Here are some examples of trials:

Noah

Genesis 6:13–16 NASB95

Then God said to Noah, “The end of all flesh has come before Me; for the earth is filled with violence because of them; and behold, I am about to destroy them with the earth. “Make for yourself an ark of gopher wood; you shall make the ark with rooms, and shall cover it inside and out with pitch. “This is how you shall make it: the length of the ark three hundred cubits, its breadth fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits. “You shall make a window for the ark, and finish it to a cubit from the top; and set the door of the ark in the side of it; you shall make it with lower, second, and third decks.

Genesis 6:22 NASB95

Thus Noah did; according to all that God had commanded him, so he did.

Noah faced the trial of building an ark that was bigger than his ability. It was a source of mockery from others as it had not rained. It took him approximately 75 years to build.

Abraham

Genesis 22:2 NASB95

He said, “Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you.”

Genesis 22:3 NASB95

So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him and Isaac his son; and he split wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him.

Abraham was willing to sacrifice his Son because God asked him to. It was very difficult because he loved Isaac and he was the promised child.

Genesis 22:12 NASB95

He said, “Do not stretch out your hand against the lad, and do nothing to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.”

David

The rape of Tamar: David's eldest son, Amnon, rapes his half-sister Tamar. David is furious but does not punish Amnon.

Absalom's revenge: Tamar's full brother, Absalom, waits two years and then murders Amnon in revenge during a feast.

Absalom's exile: After the murder, Absalom flees into exile in Geshur for three years. Though David longs for his son, he does not go after him (2 Samuel 13:39). 

A king's emotional struggle: After three years, David's military commander, Joab, perceives that David "longed to go to Absalom" and devises a plan to bring him back to Jerusalem.

David's initial hesitation: Absalom is allowed to live in Jerusalem but is forbidden from seeing the king's face for two years, demonstrating David's lingering emotional conflict.

David's flight: Hearing of the coup, David decides to flee Jerusalem to avoid bloodshed, taking a small group of loyal followers with him. As he crosses the Mount of Olives, he does so weeping.

A prophecy fulfilled: In Jerusalem, Absalom publicly humiliates his father and symbolically takes control of the throne by sleeping with David's concubines on the palace roof, a direct fulfillment of the prophet Nathan's earlier prophecy. 

David's command: David instructs his military leaders, Joab and Abishai, to "deal gently for my sake with the young man Absalom" during the battle.

Absalom's demise: During the Battle of the Wood of Ephraim, Absalom's mule carries him under a thick oak tree, and his long, beautiful hair becomes entangled in the branches, leaving him suspended.

Joab disobeys: Despite David's direct command, Joab and his men kill Absalom, ending the rebellion. 

David's mourning: When a messenger delivers the news, David is "shaken." He goes to his chamber above the city gate and weeps, famously crying out, "O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! Would I had died instead of you, O Absalom, my son, my son!".

The king's rebuke: David's intense, public grief demoralizes his victorious troops. Joab rebukes him, forcing David to put aside his sorrow and attend to his duties as king (2 Samuel 19:1–8). 

Joseph

Joseph was sold by his brothers into slavery, convicted of raping a woman though he was innocent, and forgotten in jail. Then the Lord delivered him and put in in the second most powerful position in the world.

Genesis 50:20 NASB95

“As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive.

Hosea

Hosea 1:2 NASB95

When the Lord first spoke through Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea, “Go, take to yourself a wife of harlotry and have children of harlotry; for the land commits flagrant harlotry, forsaking the Lord.”

Hosea was called to marry an unfaithful woman, so he would know how God feels about his nation playing the harlot .

Paul

Acts 9:16 NASB95

for I will show him how much he must suffer for My name’s sake.”

Paul suffered trials his entire life for the Lord. Everywhere he went he faced opposition for his faith in Jesus. He was also persecuted everywhere he went.

Our Trials

Trials are life long. these are situations that God allows to come into our lives that afford us opportunities to discover Him in different ways. We never stop going through trials as long as we live. We may have breaks, but another one is coming. Our trials end when we die. When we die we receive the crown of glory that has been promised to us. 2 Tim. 4:7-8

2 Timothy 4:7–8 NASB95

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.

Our crown of life is given to us as we put our faith in Jesus and come to know Him, but more importantly that he comes to know us. Matt. 7:23

Matthew 7:23 NASB95

“And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’

Jesus wants to be involved in our lives. This is how he gets to know us. He wants to experience our failures and lift us out of them. It is when we don’t allow Jesus to be a part of our lives that He never gets to know us. Trials are a common way we come to know the Lord and He comes to know us.

Temptation

Unlike trials that drive us closer to God, temptations pull us away from God. James explains that God does not tempt nor is He tempted. God is not persuaded by sin. However we are persuaded by sin. This is temptation. Temptation is lust of the soul. Lust is the manifestation of sin with in us that causes a desire for evil. Paul expresses this in Romans 7:14-25

Romans 7:14–25 NASB95

For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin. For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. But if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law, confessing that the Law is good. So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin.

The law is the spiritual boundaries within us. We know the law is good because it was established by God. Our sin is at odds with what God says is good. When our desire steps outside that which God says is good or violates the law of God it becomes sin.

The other temptation is when the Lord places a righteous desire within us and we don’t act on them. This is the sin of ommission.

Conclusion

Let’s not get confused about trials and temptations. Trials push you to God while temptations pull you away from Him.