“Blessed is the man that endures temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.” (v.12)
Temptations and trials often occur at the same time. While there is a fine line between them, every hardship holds the potential to "makes us or break us."
In the Book of Job we saw how God allowed Satan to touch Job’s property, his children, and eventually his health, to cause Job to deny God. But Job endured the hardships, never once denying his LORD and was ultimately rewarded by God with twice what was taken from him (Job 42:10).
As Christians, this speaks to us loud and clear. That when a trials come, Satan will be there to try and get us to (as Job’s wife suggested to him) “curse God and die” (Job 2:9). But fear not, for God will also be there to strengthen us through each trial, and will reward those who diligently seek Him.
While it may be hard for us to "Count it all joy when we fall into various trials," we can be assured that God will strengthen us to endue the testing, and perfecting the work He began in us. And while we can all agree that the trial itself is not joyful, it equips us better to minister to others who may themselves experience a similar if not the same testing.
The Truth: "Be confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will be faithful to complete it until the day of Jesus Christ." (Philippians 1:6)
