Before, not within

God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him. And remember, when you are being tempted, do not say, “God is tempting me.” God is never tempted to do wrong, and he never tempts anyone else. Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away. These desires give birth to sinful actions. And when sin is allowed to grow, it gives birth to death. (James 1:12-15)

It should not catch any of us by surprise that God doesn't say "IF" testing or temptation comes your way, but rather that if "WILL" come your way. The 'patient endurance' thing may have more than a few of us concerned because we are less than patient when crazy stuff messes with our life! If we ALL face trials and temptations, testing our faith and bringing freshness into our walk with Jesus, maybe we'd do well to learn how to deal with them BEFORE we need to face them. We cannot control when they will come, nor even what they will be, but we can prepare our minds, emotions, and spirit to be ready to endure them as they do.

Perseverance is harder than some might think. We have this crazy idea that if we are tough enough, or 'studied up' enough, we will be able to endure these tests and resist the temptations. Truth be told, no amount of 'self-directed' resistance will help us to endure the test or resist the temptation. In order to 'bear up under' a trial or test, we need something built up within our character that helps us turn to God quickly and not lean into our own strength or 'earthly wisdom'. If we are facing these crazy things in our own strength, we are surely not going to 'bear up under them'!

Whenever we attempt to face the craziness in our own strength, we will be tempted to give up. Why? Doubt begins to enter in, fear takes root, and soon we find our 'flesh' winning over our spirit. We weren't as 'prepared' as we thought we were. The discipline to endure the trial today is built into us BEFORE the trial ever begins. We press into God now in order to face what comes tomorrow. When it comes tomorrow, we lean into God a bit more and then we listen to what he is telling us in that moment. We hear his voice clearer in the midst of the craziness of the test because we have learned his voice when there was no craziness messing with our heads!

When we lean a little less on our own strength and a little more on the strength Jesus brings, we find that although we may not face the test or temptation 'perfectly', we have come out the other side unscathed and stronger than when we began to face it. While we may not want to hear it, trials and temptations actually help us to rid ourselves of our 'false trust' in our natural ability and strength. We learn there is a greater power that we can lean into when the craziness of life places demands upon us that we are really not strong enough to persevere through anyway. Just sayin!

Trials and Suffering, Oh my!

 Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved. (Helen Keller)

We might desire all of life to be ease and quiet, but then we are living with unreasonable expectations. Jesus said, "I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33) We will have many trials - not just a few. We may not face all of them with strength, but we can learn strength in the midst of them. It is important to remember there is no temptation 'unique' to any man - we all have faced a similar temptation at one time or another. What we might find 'unique' is that we all learn different things from trials that are quite similar. Why? God is developing some strength within us that will not only benefit ourselves, but will be a means of helping another develop strength, too.

Character is something developed when the mind learns to be at peace and the heart learns to be at rest. We don't learn this in the absence of trials - we learn it in the midst of them. Our character is a way of describing those unique qualities that set us apart from another, but it is also important to note that Jesus wanted us to take on his character. We are to develop in a loving servant's heart - taking the truth he gives to each of us and using what we have learned to influence this world and to encourage one another as we face life's challenges. Have all the lessons I have learned in this lifetime always come from good, God-fearing believers? Not hardly! Some of the best lessons I have learned have been from those who have failed miserably - their failure leaving a life-long influence in my life making me determined not to follow in their footsteps. 

We all want to be defined as men or women of 'good character', but we don't always make the choices that exhibit the best of moral or ethical standards, do we? Sometimes we just get a little too selfish or stubborn and go our own way. When we do, our 'character' may become a little 'tarnished', but take heart - Jesus stands at the ready to help bring beauty where only ashes remain. As others see how God can take even our worst failures and turn them into lessons that develop good character in us, they will be encouraged. Why? They might just come to the conclusion that God can do something similar in their lives, helping them put behind the things that didn't produce the best of character and move toward the things that will. Just sayin!