'14So he said to them: “Out of the eater came something to eat, And out of the strong came something sweet.” Now for three days they could not explain the riddle.'
Judges 14:14
As we go through life, we are faced with many challenges. It would be accurate to say that every living soul on this earth has or will experience some form of difficulty at one time or another. These challenges could involve losing something of material value like a job or a house. It could be a sickness that one has to deal with. A hurtful betrayal from trusted people. A grueling court battle for custody of children following a bitter divorce. Grieving the loss of a loved one. Bankruptcy. A heartbreak.
All of these difficulties and challenges are part of the human condition. No one is exempted from dealing with trying moments in their lives, especially those of us who are born again followers of Jesus Christ.
The word of God shows us that believers are bound to face difficult moments on this earth on account of their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. There is more than one word used in the bible to describe these difficulties: Persecutions, distress, tests, trials, temptations, infirmities, reproaches, necessities, afflictions, tribulations; these are some of the terms that are used in the bible to describe the difficulties that believers will face.
Every believer who is truly following Jesus Christ has gone through a trial at one moment or another in their lives. If you’re reading this and haven’t experienced any trouble in your life as a faithful follower of Jesus Christ, well just hold on, I guarantee you that trouble will find you soon enough. Jesus said in John 16:33, '33… In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”'
Tribulations, tests or trials are part and parcel of the believer’s walk of faith. God had it planned out that under the new covenant, His children would be strengthened spiritually as their faith was tested by various trials. If your faith was never tested then you would never grow up spiritually.
The god of this world
Now these tests do not come from God. The devil is the author of all the afflictions that believers face. James 1:13 says, '13Let 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. ' Temptations, tests or trials all come from the enemy of our faith, because Satan is the one who is opposed to the will of God being carried out in your life.
If God brought an affliction to any child of His, then God would be opposing His own purpose for that child. God would be putting a blockade on the path of the one who has set out to obey Him, and you can see that this notion is absurd. Very often precious believers have fallen into some form of affliction like sickness, and they concluded that the sickness was God’s will. But God doesn’t give sicknesses to people because He doesn’t have sicknesses to give to anyone.
God is not the author of sickness, He is the author of healing. Satan is the author of sickness, not God. Acts 10:38 says, '38how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. ' Notice that the bible calls sickness, “Satanic oppression.” Jesus, the Son of God, went about doing the good work of, 'healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. '
From this verse we can readily see that it was the will of God to heal all whom the devil had oppressed with sickness and disease. If God was the author of sickness, then Jesus would have been going against God’s will by healing the sick.
If we want to know what God’s will looks like then we need only to look at what Jesus did. Did Jesus put sicknesses on anyone? No, He did not. Jesus healed the sick, and therefore healing must be the will of God. Did Jesus put anyone through trials or tests? No, He did not. He delivered people out of trials, like He did when He rebuked the storm in the sea of Galilee. If the storm was God’s will, then Jesus would have been violating the will of God by rebuking the storm.
It is not God’s will that His children are afflicted by tests or trials. Tests and trials happen to us because we are in this world where our enemy is at work. The bible tells us in II Corinthians 4:4 that Satan is '...the god of this world ... ' Satan will therefore throw everything he can at you to try and sway you from standing firm in your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now Satan may be the '...the god of this world ... ' but he is not the god of Christians. He has no power over any born again child of God that knows how to walk in their rights in Christ. Satan may dominate a Christian who doesn’t know how to walk in their rights and privileges in God on account of their ignorance of what the bible says about them. However, Satan cannot dominate a believer who walks in the light of God’s word, and he will therefore oppose them through tests, trials and afflictions.
Stand your ground
When a child of God is faced with these afflictions, he then must take his position of faith and stand his ground against the schemes of the devil. Ephesians 6:10-13 says, '10Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. 11Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.'
Notice that the 13th verse of this passage speaks of '...the evil day…' The day you are faced with afflictions is definitely '...the evil day…' because on that day, the enemy of your faith will marshall his forces against you. But thank God we have overcome Satan and his forces through our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. I John 5:4-5 says, '4For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. 5Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?'
Born again Christians have already overcome the world because they believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember we saw in II Corinthians 4:4 that Satan is '...the god of this world ... ' Therefore, when the scriptures say that we have overcome the world, this literally means that as believers we have overcome Satan and all of his power.
Now realize that as a born again Christian, this overcoming faith will only become a reality to you as an individual when you go through a trial and come out of it victorious. It is one thing to read about your victory in Christ from the word of God, but it is another thing altogether to go through an affliction and emerge victorious by standing on the promises of God’s word.
Your faith will never grow if it is not challenged by tests and trials. James 1:2-4 says, '2My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, 3knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. 4But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. '
This passage is talking about the perfecting of your faith. The word perfect in this passage also means mature. James is therefore telling you, the believer, that your faith is going to be developed into full maturity as you are faced with various trials, and therefore it is up to you to be patient through these trials by making a stand against the enemy.
How necessary it is for believers to learn how to make a stand against the enemy’s wiles without wavering. We can see from the word of God that trials are bound to come against you, if you are born again, but we can also see that through the power of God we can make a bold stand against the enemy and hold our ground patiently without wavering till we see the victory manifest in our hands.
Let him pray
Now how are we going to make our stand against the god of this world when we go through trials? By studying the word of God and by being prayerful. James 5:13 says, '13Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms. '
Many precious children of God do not walk in victory because they do not appropriate the scriptures correctly. Notice that James tells the believers who are suffering to pray. Very often we want someone else to do our praying for us, but this verse tells you, the one that is going through an affliction, to do your own praying.
James goes on to say, '13… Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms. ' When you are cheerful, you don’t have someone else do your singing for you. No, you do your own singing because you're the one who is cheerful. By the same token, James, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, is directing the church on what to do in times of suffering, and that is to pray. Now you can certainly have someone agree with you in prayer, and the bible does teach us to pray the prayer of agreement. The emphasis here is this, when you are faced with a trial, be sure to present the issue you are dealing with to God for yourself, and if you need someone to stand and join their faith with you, that is alright as well.
In order for your prayer to be answered, it is going to have to be based on the word of God. Be sure that the scriptures promise you the things that you are asking God for in prayer. Jesus said in John 15:7 '7If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. '
Whether or not your prayers are successful depends on you. Notice that Jesus says in this verse that your prayers will be answered if you abide in Him by believing in Him, and if the word of God abides in you. For the word of God to abide in you, you will have to study the word for yourself. God is not going to read the bible for you. It is up to you to find out what God has promised you in His word then stand on His promises by faith as you pray.
We can readily see how afflictions provoke us to grow up spiritually. The tests and the trials that you face will cause you to seek God in prayer. In order to receive answers to your prayer you must have faith in God. To have faith you must know what the word of God says, because Romans 10:17 says, '17So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.'
Something to eat. Something sweet
Studying the word of God and prayer are the two main ingredients that build you up spiritually. Your faith grows by feeding it upon the word of God and by being prayerful. Once you have built faith into your spirit, then you will realize victory over the schemes of the devil. The tests and trials that were meant to destroy you become the stepping stone for your faith to become stronger. That is why God allows these tests to come our way.
God will only allow you to go through a trial that He knows your level of faith can handle. I Corinthians 10:13 says, '13No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.'
Notice that this verse says that God, 'will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape.' God will enable you to go through the temptation or test or trial without yielding to it. When this verse says He will make a way of escape it literally means that you will overcome the test, not run away from it.
The Christian does not flee afflictions, he or she goes through them and emerges victorious. The enemy’s intention is to destroy you just like that lion intended to destroy Samson when it came out to attack him. However, Samson tore it apart by the power of the Holy Ghost. We read this account in Judges 14:5-6 which says, '5So Samson went down to Timnah with his father and mother, and came to the vineyards of Timnah. Now to his surprise, a young lion came roaring against him. 6And the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him, and he tore the lion apart as one would have torn apart a young goat, though he had nothing in his hand. But he did not tell his father or his mother what he had done.'
Afterward, Samson went by the carcass of the dead lion and found wild bees and honey in that carcass. He found something sweet from the thing that tried to destroy him, and this is how he came up with the riddle in Judges 14:14, '14... “Out of the eater came something to eat, And out of the strong came something sweet.”...'
Out of afflictions God will give you a testimony of His power at work in you. Based on your level of faith, you will be tried by the adversary but you will put him down and run him off every time. In doing so you will grow from one level of faith to another to the glory of God.