“There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.” (1 Corinthians 10:13)
Trials and tribulations are words that we do not like to hear, and yet as I read my Bible and see that whether or not I agree with God on having them enter into my life, I have come to realize that they are to God like a scalpel that a doctor would use in a surgery where he would cut something out that is potentially harmful to my physical health. In the same way, God uses trials to remove those things in my character that if left unchecked will result in a stunted and weak spiritual development.
No matter who you are, man or woman, young or old, they come to us in every walk of life. There are some who will face financial trials for their entire life….. One thing for sure, the longer you live, you will face many trials or troubles. It might be family, or relationships, but they will come.
There are some who believe that if you become a Christian, that all of your trials will go away. There are even some inside the church that say that if you just believe in Jesus, everything will be great! Sadly, I have not run into this kind of belief in Scripture.
Quite the contrary. Jesus never told His followers that if they followed Him, that everything would be great or rosy. Jesus did tell people that followed Him that it will be a difficult road. But good news! These trials will come and go, as God faithfully uses them to slowly but surely transform your life into a way you could never have imagined!
In 2 Peter 2:9 , the Holy Spirit says: “then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment.”
Hallelujah! it is music to my ears that the ‘Lord knows how!” because I have to admit that if left to my own resources, I would crumble at the thought of another trial. But the Lord know how, when I’ve had enough, making sure to never give me more than I can handle. Lord, thank You that You are always my strong right hand, to help us in times of need. We don’t ask for ways out of these trials Lord, but we do ask that You give us Your wisdom, that we might become learners and applying Your wisdom int0 our lives and become like Paul, rejoicing, trial after trial!, trusting in Your Saving and wonderful grace! in Your Name we pray this and in Jesus Name, Amen.
There is an instruction still given today to those in the ‘Peace Corps’ as they serve in the areas throughout South America. The instruction? ‘How to react to a hungry python while in the jungles.
#1. Do not run away! (The python can out ‘run’ you.)
#2. Lie down flat on the ground on your back with your feet together, arms at your side, head well down.
Now then, the python will then try to push its head under you, experimenting at every possible point. Keep calm! (this was underscored). ‘Allow the python to swallow your foot….it is quite painless, and will take a long time. Be careful not to lose your head and begin struggling, the python sensing your struggle will quickly whip his coils around you.
However, if you keep calm and still, he will go on swallowing. Wait patiently until he has swallowed up to about your knee, then carefully take your knife and insert it into the distended side of its mouth and with a quick rip, slit him up.’
The spiritual lesson when you are under pressure, being tested, is to what? Stay calm! wait until God opens a door of opportunity to walk out unharmed. Walking out unharmed is really what the testing is all about.
Either way, whether you pass the test (calm, obedient) or fail the test (anxious, fretful) God will not allow the pressure to become so large that you become consumed by it. Remember, (and I say this carefully to myself), this time of testing is more for ourselves, to see it as a barometer of where we are in regards to our faith and trusting that ‘He who began a work in us is faithful to complete it.” Philippians 1:3-6. God is a loving Father, and will not abandon you in the middle of a trial. “I have not lost one of those You gave to me’ John 18:9
God Has given us 3 Extremely Powerful words of Encouragement when one is in a Season of Trial.
First Encouragement: Despite popular belief… The Bible teaches us that God will bring us into Seasons of Trial……. in fact one of the best tests of Christian growth and maturity is trouble………. When a believer goes through personal trials, they discover just what kind of faith they really possess. Trials not only reveal our faith, but they also help along to develop our character.
James writes in his Epistle, Chapter 1 how God is trying to produce in us the kind of faith that overcomes. “The trying of your faith worketh patience.”
Patience is enduring faith, faith with staying power. This kind of faith will usually come trials and tests from outside circumstances.
I don’t know about you, I kind of like this kind of faith, with ‘staying power’. Unfortunately, when certain things occur outside my normal circumstances….I have a difficult time gaining any appreciation for them at that moment..
Nevertheless, God is trying to produce in me a “faith that overcomes,” that ‘endures,’ that has ‘staying power.’
There is a pattern in our lives that when trials, testing , and temptations do come our way that we discover far too soon into the trial that the faith we thought was good enough has been proven inadequate. Sometimes I have several trials going on all at once. It doesn’t take me too long to see that I begin to adapt this mindset that cries out to God saying, “God, what are You doing to me? Why are You picking on me?”
“There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.” (1 Corinthians 10:13)
‘Except that is common to man’……. I don’t know about you but I find great comfort knowing that I am not the only one who is going through things…. But I am especially encouraged that God is faithful! ‘Faithful to complete the work He began in me, who will also do it.’ 1 Thessalonians 5:24
I
There is no trial that we may go through but such as is, ‘Common to man’ . And so if you are at the point where you may not be able to make it, remain steadfast! Hang in there, remain still, and wait for the opportunity that God will present to deliver you safely, and more stronger than you were going into it. Don’t back up because you’re being asked to endure what you may think that no one else has had to endure.
God is saying to you right now, ‘Marty, I know that what you are going through is very hard for you, that it may even seem to be unbearable, but you need to realize that there are many others who have already gone through very similar trials like yours. If I enabled them to get through it, I will also get you through it!’..….
‘ Marty…….. “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you…..when you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned,nor shall the flame scorch you.
For I am the Lord your God.” 
When we are going through a time in our lives where the pressure seems unbearable and we haven’t the answers, our most common prayer is, ‘God get me out of here!’. I can’t recall how many times I prayed that prayer….and nothing happened! In fact, there is no escaping your turn when you find yourself in the middle of a fiery trial!
“ Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy.” 1 Peter 4:12
When difficult times come into my own life and I find myself unable to comprehend or understand; its amazing just how quick the enemy will begin to throw doubts and questions into my mind, and I soon find myself questioning God’s goodness, God’s wisdom in why He is allowing these things to happen. I find that I may even be bitter and angry with God for allowing this to happen to me and wonder if He really understands….. when the truth is revealed that there’s no such thing in God’s economy as things happening haphazardly to us, with no meaning or purpose behind it.
There are times when I’m in the middle of it, that I find myself unable to see the good and purpose of why I’m going through it, Satan will cast some dirt of the past into my sight momentarily distracting me from the real purpose of my trials, to become more and more a child of God. It’s moments like these when I need to remember that a trial isn’t a one way street. God wants me to talk with Him, to ask Him for wisdom, discernment.
Jesus said: Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you, for every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened” (Matthew 7:7)
It seems therefore that if nothing else, (that I can see) happens in a trial at least my personal relationship is growing in the asking of wisdom in a trial through my prayers……“This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of Him.” 1 John 5:14
God has been very good to me in allowing me to see the good….even in a difficult trial. I can’t but remember back, one year ago where God delivered me to what I thought at the time to be the most difficult one of my life when I was diagnosed with Stage 3 Colon Cancer. I can still remember the words rolling off the lips of that doctor, and the thump as I took a deep swallow, not really seeing anything good about it.
But it’s fascinating as God walked with me daily, and into the treatment rooms where they have you sit on a recliner and begin to infuse this mixture of chemicals that would ultimately destroy whatever cancer cells were still alive. How often the Holy Spirit would bring wave after wave of encouragement during those hours that there was good going on inside of me at the very time that it seemed that my body was betraying me. I can recall all the people I met and prayed with there, how God would use this trial as a floodgate of light for Him to encourage others there.
I remember specifically as I was nearing my last treatment after 8 months, when there was this elderly woman sitting next to me, who was also having her infusion. As the chatter began throughout the room and we would discuss God’s Word and share how it had become a mainstay for all of us; that this woman, (who always covered her face) spoke from underneath that covering and said that all these months, although it may have seemed like she wasn’t, ‘listening’., she was; and thankful that God would send people around her, to see the good of what He was doing in the midst of all this difficulty.
And so, you too, when you find yourself there, can begin to search out and discover for yourself the good He is doing through your trial, with those around you, how so much good comes from a trial!
“There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.” (1 Corinthians 10:13)
Remember when Jesus had just been baptized in the Jordan River, and the Holy Spirit fell upon Him anointing Him for ministry? What happened next? “Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted[a] by the devil. 2 After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” Jesus armed Himself with the Word of God. This is vital if you’re in a trial. You see, God wants to write His Word upon Your heart,
In other words, His Word is all you need to pass the test in the trial, and memorizing His Word can prove to be so valuable when fiery trials are in progress. Satan will not wait until you’ve got your open Bible, and paper, and pen, and THEN tempt you. He will arrive at an inopportune time, when it’s not convenient time and begin to hassle you. The more you know the Word of God, the more calm you will remain in the midst of your trial. Maybe you know this, and if so, begin to ask God to send you as one of the ones spoken in the previous Scripture in Isaiah 43 where He says, “I will send men for you, and people for your life, fear not, I am with you”
When we are going through a fiery trial, it can help enormously if a friend can lay a hand on a Brother or Sister’s shoulder and encourage them, saying honestly, ” Hey, I know what you’re going through, and God brought me through it; I know it’s tough for you right now, I know when I was going through something very similar to what you’re going through, I thought that wasn’t going to make it through….but God got me through it, and I know He will do the same for you.” “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” James 5:16
But even if there is not a specific friend around me who is able to say those words to me, this verse reminds me that there is indeed others, remnant if you will, who have been given this beautiful gift of a Grace Ministry…. people called to help others out there to get through their season of trial…
The Second Word of Encouragement,
“There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man…”
There is a time, in the life of every man, woman when we are going through some difficult and challenging situations that we can become so entangled in our weakness and our inability to do anything about it, that we cry out to God, ‘help me God, I can’t take it any more!’ As a Christian, you are guaranteed troubled lives. John’s Gospel Chapter 16:33, we see Jesus, teaching the Apostles before His greatest trial at Calvary that they would experience similar pressures, and that they would not be left to themselves in comfort and support but that God would send them the Holy Spirit. He finishes giving them the reason for this explanation by saying that:“These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)
“There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man…”
And so Secondly, God assures us in this verse that He will not allow us to be tested “above what we are able.”
I think back in my own life, and see often I felt in certain instances where I had reached the ‘end of my rope’……when in fact, I really hadn’t. During those times, I would often feel that I could endure no more……. when I really could….only after all the smoke and dust had settled that I really could have …..endured more.
Each time as God waited so patiently for me, I finally came to the conclusion, (at least that time) that God knows me better than I do myself. God knows how much I can bear. God knows exactly which straw it will be that will, ‘break the camel’s back!’ Not only that, but God promises me that He will never allow that much testing to come my way.
When I am tempted to cry out to God, ‘I can’t take anymore!’ ….He reminds me gently of these words: ‘Marty, I will not allow you to be tested above what you are able to bear.”
The Third Word of Encouragement here is this:
“Will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that you may be able to bear it.”
There are times….when I am deep into what seems to me an excessively long trial, when I begin to convince myself that this is the one I was hoping would never come, there simply is no way out of this one. Absolutely, no way out….. When I have arrived here, at this point, it seems as if I had been pushed into a room, with no windows….no doors…. I go over and over in my mind that I just don’t see any hope whatsoever of getting out of this one! And then, when I felt like the light was going to dim away, God steps in and says to me, ‘Marty, I have made a way of escape for you, come now!’
There is a story in the Book of Acts Chapter 12 where we are told that the Apostle Peter was in King Herod’s jail . Peter, no doubt had already heard that Herod was arresting and persecuting anyone who said they belonged to Jesus. James, brother of John put to death by sword. When Herod saw that this pleased the Jews, he went after Peter, arresting him at the time of the ‘Unleavened Bread’ handing him over to be guarded by 16 soldiers. Herod’s plan was to bring Peter out after the Passover and bring him to trial. So Peter was kept in jail, while the Church prayed for him.
Little did Peter know what God had planned for this trial he was going through. As it ended up, God sent an angel to Peter and provided a way of escape.
At just the right time, in just the right way, God opened up those prison bars, with 16 soldiers securely fastened to him. At the right time God made a way of escape by simply opening the prison door……“is I am the LORD, the God of all mankind, is anything too hard for Me?” ” (Jeremiah 32:27)
It’s amazing when we find our ourselves staring at a horrible circumstance in the face, just how limited our vision is. It is at these times we are subject to making terrible and regretful choices, because our perspective was not God’s perspective, how we see things and how God views things can often times become contrary, As a matter of fact the Bible makes this very clear: ” For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord….. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:8-9
It becomes during these times when we must look away from the circumstances and onto God. King David was all too familiar with this tendency of man that when he finds himself in a circumstance that he cannot solve, instead of looking to see where God is standing in it, we look to ourselves for answers, oftentimes coming up short. Psalm 121 has the answer, if you find yourself in this predicament, ” I lift up my eyes to the mountains— where does my help come from? 2 My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. 3 He will not let your foot slip He who watches over you will not slumber; indeed, He who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.”
However bleak the circumstances that you find yourself in today, remember the promises that God has given you, for “being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” Philippians 1:6
I often marvel that when I am in the middle of a trial, how my flesh just loves to resist being told what to think, what to do. How less confident I become in my own answers to the circumstance and leave me in a state of confusion at its end. What a waste of energy this can be. If I would only sit still, and hear His whisper of confidence for me : ‘Marty, be still, and know I am God.” Psalm 46:10. In fact, the Lord commands us to not have any confidence in what my flesh might be suggesting. Philippians 3:4 ….and rightly so, because deep inside me, within the very chambers of my heart, I know what kind of confidence I had in my plans, decisions. And when they fell through, how quickly my flesh would chalk it up to, ‘Well, at least you tried!’
When I come to the place where I know God has set a trial before me, I am reminded that one of the purposes of that trial is to let God burn away the failures of my own confidence and live in the light of His presence that will never fail me,
However the bleakness of your situation, you must cling onto the promises He has given to you, knowing that He will certainly and without doubt see you through victoriously!
I have always loved History, so when I came to know Jesus Christ as the only Person whom I could put my trust into and know that He would always keep His promises to me. That’s important, because whether you like history or not, you need to know that your own life has become….history. It becomes an account of who you were, what you accomplished, what you believed, where you lived, your whole life has great historical value to God, your life means something to God.
Throughout History, God has raised up leaders. Men and Women who despite their frailties and weaknesses were used by God to bring a charge of hope and challenge in difficult circumstances to never give up. Giving up is the fleshly perspective which separates itself from hope, and leaves you feeling desolate.
During the Nazi invasion throughout Europe in World War 2 , God raised up was an Englishman by the name of Winston Churchill. who would go on to lead Britain through what history books would record as the darkest hour of her history.
All hope seemed to be lost….but this man, whom God had raised, “for such a time as this’(Esther 4:14) refused to allow his people to give up……eventually God gave then victory over their demonic Nazi enemies.
Years later, Churchill would be invited to give a speech; at a boys school, one which he, himself attended as a boy. When it was time for him to speak, he quietly stepped up to the podium and spoke these words, slowly and with great emphasis. He said, “Boys….never give up….never give up, never, never, never, never…” and he sat down. I have a feeling everyone in attendance carried vivid memories of that moment the rest of their lives. So you see, you just never know, what God is doing through you as you are surrounded by a crowd of circumstances that ask you to step out and just trust God in it!
I like to remind myself that a trial is conclusive evidence God gives to me about my spiritual condition, and allows me to see in it, my capacity to look beyond them, and look to God who surrounds them. ‘He that is in me, is greater than he who is in the world’. 1 John 4:4
“There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.” (1 Corinthians 10:13)
In closing, let us review what we have learned from this passage through the guidance and teaching of the Holy Spirit.
First, no one who enters into the realm of fellowship with God is immune from trials. Everyone of us will see them this year. Two, there is great design by a loving and caring Father who, while we are being raised up to become sons and daughters of God for eternity and earthly trials are a part of the process God uses to make us more like His Son. A good prayer might be what John recorded in his Gospel from John the Baptist.“I must increase, but I must decrease.” John 3:30
And so when I am facing a trial, I need to remember that as I let go, as I decrease, God will work out whatever is keeping you from fully trusting in Him. You will experience a contentment and peace. “And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:17. When I am in a trial, my confidence in how it will turn out is to be put in Jesus Christ; and since He is the giver of that peace, you need to find Him in the trial.
I remember the story in the Old Testament of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abendego who in the midst of a referendum given by King Nebuchadnezzar II, of Babylon, who had commissioned that a nine-story high statue, made of gold be built. When the project was complete, he prepared a dedication ceremony to this image ordering all surrounding inhabitants to bow down and worship it. The consequence for not worshiping the idol, upon hearing the cue of instruments, was execution in a fiery furnace.
During the dedication ceremony of the golden image, certain officials took notice that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were not bowing down to the idol.
Upon being told this, The King was enraged and demanded that these three men come before him. Nebuchadnezzar knew of these very men, because it was not too long ago when Daniel had petitioned the King to assign Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego over the affairs of the province of Babylon.
Daniel was also very special to the King because he was able to interpret his dreams unlike any of the Chaldean wise men. So it is of no surprise that the King would offer one more chance for these three Jews, who held honorable positions to the King, to show their patriotism to Babylon.
Their response: “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and He will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if He does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.“
Nebuchadnezzar demanded that the execution furnace be heated seven times hotter than usual. Valiant soldiers of the King’s army were ordered to firmly bind the fully clothed Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and cast them in the blazing furnace. Upon approaching the mouth of the furnace, the fire was so hot that the soldiers perished while attempting to throw in the three tightly bound Jews (who then fell in)
When the King saw what appeared to be four men in the furnace, unbound and walking about, he called to them to come out. King Nebuchadnezzar then acknowledged the power of their God, even going as far as to make a decree, whereby any nation who says anything against the God of the Jews is an act of war. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were then given promotions to their positions over the province of Babylon.
“There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.” (1 Corinthians 10:13)
I read this, and wonder out loud, ‘Marty what would you do in a ‘real life’ situation , where your faith is being stretched?’ We are being called to not panic when this stretching of our faith comes. Sometimes I feel some of the little things I go through are so important and fretful, until God places someone along my path, to remind me that this too is ‘common to man’.
‘But God is faithful” This so important to remember, especially when we allow ourselves to ponder on someone, or something that is coming to make everything go away. God is always faithful….you can count on Him to always come through!
“who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.”
I cannot begin to overcome my difficulties until I look at the Cross at Calvary, where physical and emotional suffering took heights unimaginable to mankind. For me this becomes my standard, that God laid all my empty confidence on the Cross and walked me through victoriously when Jesus arose from the tomb.
Sometimes I feel like I’ve been left alone to suffer in my difficulties and remember that God has not forgotten me. ““Your thoughts for me are more than the sands of the sea” Psalm 139:18 I meditate that my life has purpose, and this trial is bringing me closer to the truth of that purpose.
make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.”
There are times in my trials, when I begin to take on the burden of that trial. As I try to convince myself that if I would just pray a little harder, maybe if I would just give a little extra in that tithe, that through my actions, God would spare or lessen the severity of the trial., struggling to make a way out of the difficulty, sometimes even lightly persuading someone to help out in my circumstance…… “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” Romans 7:24
You see, the longer I live, the greater the trials. That is why God through His grace brings these challenges to me, that I might be convinced beyond a shadow of doubt that, this is not my eternal home. In its present condition, this body is not going to live forever. And thank God, because as I get older, I’m beginning to see all its weakness. My struggles in a trial are becoming to be more evident that I myself will never find a way of escape as long as it lives in its temporary state! But praise be to God that He knows this condition and has a plan that will “make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.”
There is a wonderful story about a man found a cocoon of a butterfly.
One day a small opening appeared.
He sat and watched the butterfly for several hours
as it struggled to squeeze its body through the tiny hole.
Then it stopped, as if it couldn’t go further.
So the man decided to help the butterfly.
He took a pair of scissors and
snipped off the remaining bits of cocoon.
The butterfly emerged easily but
it had a swollen body and shriveled wings.
The man continued to watch it,
expecting that any minute the wings would enlarge
and expand enough to support the body,
Neither happened!
In fact the butterfly spent the rest of its life
crawling around.
It was never able to fly.
What the man in his kindness
and haste did not understand:
The restricting cocoon and the struggle
required by the butterfly to get through the opening
was a way of forcing the fluid from the body
into the wings so that it would be ready
for flight once that was achieved.
Sometimes struggles are exactly
what we need in our lives.
Going through life with no obstacles would cripple us.
We will not be as strong as we could have been
and we would never fly.
And so, in closing, it becomes quite obvious to me that trials through difficulties in my life are for good, not evil. They eventually draw me nearer to God and help me develop a closeness with God as I trust Him , having confidence in His ability and promise to ‘make all things work together for good, to those that love Him and are called according to His purpose” Romans 8:28
Lord, thank You that You always know what is right for my life. Give me wisdom and discernment through these trials, that I might be a shining light in a dark world so full of uncertainty at what is going to happen next. May Your Words of truth about me, and Your plans for me, be motivation enough to make me know that Your loving-kindness wraps each trial, that I might love You more each day. In Jesus Name, Amen.
MUSINGS…….. Keep souls in prayer as God uses His Word shedding the truth about Jesus Christ and His amazing love and sacrifice for the sins of all mankind! Keep also the UK in prayer, it seems like God is working a revival there. Also keep my wife and I in your prayers as we prepare for a step a faith in the ministry God has given us. Enjoy today’s video from Matt Redman,…..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b61wsBdqrKM
‘See you all around the bend, or up in the air!’
Walking the Berean Road 