Opportunities

Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death. James 1:12-15

God will not tempt you. 

When God was creating the tree of good and evil, He did not create a temptation for Adam and Eve. Neither did He create the opportunity for a temptation. God doesn't play a game with words. God created the tree as an opportunity for Adam to prove and demonstrate his loyalty to Him with the intention that we would succeed. Satan turned that opportunity into a temptation as he intended us to fail. God again provided Abraham with an opportunity to demonstrate his loyalty to Him with Isaac, and Abraham was enriched through the experience. As the second Adam (Romans 5, 1 Corinthians 15:0-24), Jesus was given the opportunity to demonstrate His loyalty to God (both to the Father and to Himself). Temptations are opportunities to put away your own desires and demonstrate your loyalty to God. You can view temptations as opportunities not struggles; this will change how you see trials. But you have to decide how you are going to view temptations before you encounter them; because in the midst of temptation, it is too hard to see clearly.

Following Jesus is hard. 

In Luke 18, the rich young ruler was given the opportunity to demonstrate his loyalty to God by giving his wealth to the poor, but he viewed that opportunity as a threat of a trial. The rich young ruler wasn’t ready to endure a temptation as an opportunity to grow; he was looking to justify himself while going through the motions of obedience. Persevering through temptations as opportunities to grow is difficult, but “To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne,” (Revelation 3:21). But God is for you, and He wants you to overcome the temptations set before you. God is not your adversary, waiting for you to fail so He can strike you down. He picks you up when Satan manipulates your own desires to cause you to stumble. Following Jesus is hard, but you can slay the temptations of sin that leads to death. As you practice putting to death the man of sin, you will begin to slay him when he is younger and younger until the fetus of sin in the womb of desire is where you put him to death. You can overcome temptations and use what could be temptations as opportunities to demonstrate your loyalty to God.