After writing on the sorrow/joy connection, I came across this:
The tree dug in,
facing fiercest wind,
will stand well past tomorrow;
It's the deepest roots
which yield sweetest fruits,
though grown by greatest sorrow.
facing fiercest wind,
will stand well past tomorrow;
It's the deepest roots
which yield sweetest fruits,
though grown by greatest sorrow.
As I go through this week’s BELIEVE material
on Joy, I am finding that this lesson is the one out of all 22 chapters so far which
I need to learn the most. Of all of the lessons, this is the one I score the
least for the test on page 171. Ironically, this is also the one Randy Frazee’s
wife gives testimony that she too struggled with the most.
Why? Here’s my theory: there is a love
connection with joy and a sorrow connection with joy, but there is also a temptation / tribulation / testing
connection with joy. I fail to enter into the joy because I falter at one or
all of the “Triple T” connections.
All three words, temptation, tribulation
and testing are found in James chapter 1.
2Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face temptations (#1) of many kinds, 3
because you know that the testing (#3)
of your faith develops perseverance. 4Perseverance must finish its
work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
12
Blessed is the man who perseveres under temptations,
because when he has stood the test,
he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him. 13When
tempted, no one should say,
"God is tempting me." For
God cannot be tempted by evil, nor
does he tempt anyone; 14but
each one is tempted when, by his own
evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. 15Then, after desire
has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives
birth to death.
27This
is pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father, to visit
orphans and widows in their tribulation
(#2), and to keep oneself unstained by the world.
1. Peirazo
= Temptation with evil (James 1:2, 12-14)
Satan
is the Tempter. When we are tempted, we are not in sin, but we are in serious
danger. Jesus was tempted every day of His existence, in every way (Heb. 2:18) that
we are, yet He was without sin (Heb. 4:15). He is able to help us but temptation
is a battle. There is an escape, 1 Cor. 10:13 say, but every temptation has the
potential…
- of being an opportunity to get us closer to God, resulting in joy and perseverance
- of being an obstacle to get us closer to Satan, resulting in sorrow
Stephen Charnock, a preacher from the 17th
century, said, “A deep sense of the Divine Goodness of God would strike Satan’s
temptation dead at a blow.” A way to victory is to remember God is good,
divinely good and will deliver from evil (Matt. 6:13).
2. Thlipsis = Tribulation; a pushing
together, anguish, tribulation.
John
McArthur says that "Thlipsis
(tribulation) has the underlying meaning of being under pressure and was used
of squeezing olives in a press in order to extract the oil and of squeezing
grapes to extract the juice ... In Scripture the word thlipsis is perhaps most often used of outward difficulties, but it
is also used of emotional stress."
People
may think they are being tested by God, when in reality they are experiencing
the natural consequence of sinful humanity. Widows and orphans have
tribulations (James 1:27) not because of Satan’s temptation or God’s testing,
but because of the nature of a fallen world. Joy can be found when we help
people in times of trouble.
The word
"tribulation" is from the image of separating the wheat from the
chaff. We experience tribulation to rely on God’s grace to purify us from the
chaff. It is used by Christ in Matt. 13:21 saying the trouble robs people of
their initial joy of salvation. Again in John 16:20-24, Jesus said the joy of
birthing a child helps overcome the “tribulation” of labor. Paul linked the two
in 1 Thess. 1:6 with joy coming from the Holy Spirit and in 1 Thes. 3:3-7, with
joy coming from other believers.
We cannot avoid the storms of the sea, but we
can rest assured God will give us joy when we make it safely to the harbor.
3. Dokimion = Testings resulting in proven
character (James 1:3, Rom. 5:4)
The third link with joy comes from God’s testing.
When God puts His people into the furnace, He keeps His eye on the clock and
His hand on the thermostat. He knows how long and how much we can take.
The difference in testing and temptation is
that God tests us to bring out the best, while Satan tempts us to bring out the
worst.
