Temptation, Test, and Trial:
A discontented spirit is susceptible to temptation; temptation is a trap that plunge men into destruction.
A test is a wake-wake up call to learn the full measure of your skillsets and knowledge-base; it tells you where you need to be increased or decreased as the case might be, to get from where you are to where you need to be.
A trial will take you places you’ve never been for reasons that you may never know, ask of you things that you won’t ordinarily give, or give to you things that you won’t otherwise get, and when the trial is over the glory of God will shed light on the true culprit – and vindicate you of all your alleged trespasses; and the grace of God will free your mind, open the door to your heart and set you free from all doubt, fear and biasness, because the experiences (temptations, tests, and trials) of yesterday are the triumphs of today and therefrom you will garner the wit and wisdom that you need to face the trials of tomorrow and claim the victory that God promised by his word. Therefore, think it not strange the fiery trials that befall you, for nothing has befallen such that is not common to man.
God will not tempt you, but he’ll let you be tempted; he will test you to prove himself strong in the midst of your weakness; and he will allow you to be tried before a council of witnesses to prove you strong in the Lord and the power of his might. Through it all, it helps to remember: the race is not for the swift, and neither is the battle for the strong, but for they that can endure to the end. So, run with endurance the race that has been set before you, knowing that adversity is not to your detriment, but to your betterment because when you have been fully tempted, tested and tried, God will present you as a living sacrifice on the altar of thanksgiving and raise you up before your fellowmen as sacrifice of praise over your yesterdays, and the sweet smelling savor of your todays will waft into the beauty of your tomorrows and your blessed assurance will be the pinnacle of hope, the anchor that holds, and the mountaintop encounters that will encourage others to persevere and prosper through the many angsts of a purposeful life, and you will be unto them as A lighthouse in the Storm: A Message in Due Season. So when the duties of your endeavor seems like sinking sand, don’t run away and hide; just hold to God’s unchanging hand. He will never fail you, leave you, or deceive you. He wants you to learn and to grow, to be empowered and to empower, in order to be the stalwart of faith and the full measure of success that you wouldn’t be otherwise; so in order to see the full manifestation of his presence in your life – and the lives of the people into whose lives he has called you to impart, don’t try to trace God, trust him.
May the Lord continue to strengthen you in your spirit as you lean not unto your understanding, but in all your ways acknowledge him — and let him direct your path.
Lifeline of Hope 