Trials brought upon us are one thing. But the command is: examine yourselves or put yourselves in a trial. How do we do that? Years ago, in my college days (Biola), a professor shared the following approach in Chapel that I have found helpful, both for myself and in encouraging others. I share it with you. (I cannot remember his name; I believe he was only on the faculty for a year or so; in his late twenties in the late 1960’s.)
The
following diagram and explanation involves 3 stages in dealing with a
trial. Stage 1 is when the trial
comes. Stage 2 is our response. Stage 3 is how we move on from the response.
v Stage 1: God provides an
opportunity.
The
Greek peirazo (verb) and related
terms is used in two ways. As in James
1:2-12 it deals with what we call trials
or difficult situations. These can be related to finances, health,
danger or relationships. Or it can refer
to what we usually call temptations
(deceptive seductions usually connect with the Evil One, as in Matt.
4:1-11). These would encourage us to
immorality, materialism or pride.
Along
with the trial we have certain realities
at work to try to move us one way or the other in handling this trial.
o
Encouragement to handle these things in a godly
manner comes from the power of the Holy Spirit (Rom. 8:11,13) and the precepts
of the Word (Acts. 20:32). These 
two
are, of course, always in sync and actually depend on each other. In addition believers in Christ know that
they are specially enabled for righteousness by the fact of the new creation, of having been born again
by the Spirit of God. Being alive in
Christ is the key to our walk in newness of life (Rom. 6:1-4).
two
are, of course, always in sync and actually depend on each other. In addition believers in Christ know that
they are specially enabled for righteousness by the fact of the new creation, of having been born again
by the Spirit of God. Being alive in
Christ is the key to our walk in newness of life (Rom. 6:1-4).
o
Encouragement to handle these things in a sinful
manner comes from the power Satan (2 Cor. 11:3, he seeks to corrupt our minds)
and the pull of the world system (1 Cor. 15:33; John 2:19). We should also recognize that our old man (the sinful nature) works
against us. He died when we were joined
with Christ in His death and resurrection; but in some way, whether by habit or
memory, this is still an issue. We
struggle because we have not been fully renewed
in our minds (Rom. 12:2; Eph. 4:23). In
my understanding this struggle is spoken of in Gal. 5:17 and was Paul’s
experience in Rom. 7:18-25.
We
mention these realities but want to
assure ourselves of the great reality
of 1 John 4:4: He who is in you is
greater than he who is in the world.
The reality that Christ lives in
Me (Gal. 2:20) means everything to the Christian.
v Stage 2: You respond to
the opportunity.
On
the one hand we may succumb to the seductions of Satan and choose the wrong
path. This path begins when we do not
make a strong decision to do right. We
mull things over in our mind and then devise a rationale which allows us to put
an evil plan into action. A good
illustration of this in Scripture is the way Eve thought in Gen. 3:1-6 or
David’s sin in 2 Samuel 11.
However,
in the face of the opportunity we
could cast ourselves on the Lord and, with His help and by His grace choose the
path that is right. In doing so we walk
obediently, not conforming to the world but being transformed (Rom. 12:1-2). Illustrations of this include Jehoshaphat’s
way of dealing with the enemies in 2 Chron. 20:1-13. And of course the supreme example is that of
Christ in His use of the sword of the
Spirit in Matt. 4:1-11.
(We
will complete this in our next post.)
No comments:
Post a Comment