So, I was reading up tonight about whether God tempts us or not. It says in James 1:13 “God cannot be tempted with evil, and He himself tempts no one.” A lot of people like to throw out Genesis 22:1 and Matthew 6:13 (Lord’s Prayer) to show the Bible contradicts itself. The passage in Genesis is about God testing Abraham’s faith when he asks him to sacrifice his son Isaac (which of course, God stopped him from doing). I was reading an article (which I can’t recall the name of right now) that suggests being tempted and being tested have different original meanings. Dictionary.com says a test is “A basis for evaluation or judgment.” It says to tempt is “To try to get (someone) to do wrong, especially by a promise of reward.” It seems to me they do have clearly different meanings. Anyway, none of that was really the point (as if there ever is one).
A few months ago I was sitting at the beach on my lunch break. I asked God to test me and try me, search my heart, etc…and He did. In fact, He started that day. He showed me something I really didn’t want to see. Ever since then, and really before then, I have been begging and pleading with God about something. Something that I assumed was a temptation for me. Something I knew I could handle because we know He doesn’t give us more than we can bear, but still something I have to struggle with. And I’m sitting here right now, no closer to an answer. Which makes me wonder? Am I suppose to wait for something to go away? Pray about it, wish it away? Or do I go and do something about it? Of course, doing something seems logical, but when you do things just to mask something, or forget something, or try to make something go away, does it ultimately help? Out of sight, out of mind? I don’t know. I guess it depends on the situation. I don’t know whether right now I’m supposed to be patient, be strong, and just deal with my struggles, or whether I’m supposed to actively try to change something.
Any thoughts? I’m at a loss.
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Wow! I couldn't resist this one. Pretty heavy. You're a brave girl, asking God to test you. Got to watch what you pray for.
I think (I know)God does test us, and each one we pass successfully makes us even stronger. Sometimes when I'm going through a trial I ask God what He wants me learn from it, because I sure get tired of going around and around the same mountain. God has three answers, yes no, and wait. Waiting is the hardest for me anyway. Not knowing what your struggle is, it's hard to advise, however I know that when I try something in my own strength I always fail. Out of sight out of mind doesn't work. Just continue to trust in Him and ask for strengh and wisdom to continue as long as it takes. I tell Him I'm so hard headed about most things He will have to hit me over the head with the answer just so I know it's Him(but I wouldn't suggest you do that 
Hang in there if it's only by one nail! God is never early with His answers but always on time.
Be blessed by the Best
Sorry this will be long but wanted to share what someone just sent me:
(Rick Warren, author of
("A Purpose Driven Life")
You will enjoy the new insights that Rick Warren has with his wife now having cancer and him having "wealth" from the book sales.
This is an absolutely incredible short interview with Rick Warren, "Purpose Driven Life" author, and pastor of Saddleback Church in California.
In the interview by Paul Bradshaw with Rick Warren, Rick said:
People ask me, What is the purpose of life? And I respond: In a nutshell, life is preparation for eternity. We were made to last forever, and God wants us to be with Him in Heaven.
One day my heart is going to stop, and that will be the end of my body–but not the end of me.
I may live 60 to 100 years on earth, but I am going to spend trillions years in eternity. This is the warm-up act – the dress rehearsal of God wants us to practice on earth what we will do forever in eternity. We were made by God and for God, and until you figure that out, life isn't going to make sense.
Life is a series of problems: Either you are in one now, you're just coming out of one, or you're getting ready to go into another one.
The reason for this is that God is more interested in your character than your comfort.
God is more interested in making your life holy than He is in making your life happy.
We can be reasonably happy here on earth, but that's not the goal of life. The goal is to grow in character, in Christ likeness.
This past year has been the greatest year of my life but also the toughest, with my wife, Kay, getting cancer.
I used to think that life was hills and valleys – you go through a dark time, then you go to the mountaintop, back and forth. I don't believe >that anymore.
Rather than life being hills and valleys, I believe that it's kind of like two rails on a railroad track, and at all times you have something good and something bad in your life.
No matter how good things are in your life, there is always something bad that needs to be worked on.
And no matter how bad things are in your life, there is always something good for which you can thank God.
You can focus on your purposes, or you can focus on your problems.
If you focus on your problems, you're going into self-centeredness, "which is my problem, my issues, my pain."
But one of the easiest ways to get rid of pain is to get your focus off yourself and onto God and others.
We discovered quickly that in spite of the prayers of hundreds of thousands of people, God was not going to heal Kay or make it easy for her.
It has been very difficult for her, and yet God has strengthened her character, given her a ministry of helping other people, given her a testimony, drawn her closer to Him and to people.
You have to learn to deal with both the good and the bad of life. Actually, sometimes learning to deal with the good is harder. For instance, this past year, all of a sudden, when the book sold 15 million copies, it made me instantly very wealthy.
It also brought a lot of notoriety that I had never had to deal with before. I don't think God gives you money or notoriety for your own ego >or for you to live a life of ease.
So I began to ask God what He wanted me to do with this money, notoriety and influence. He gave me two different passages that helped me decide what to do, II Corinthians 9 and Psalm 72.
First, in spite of all the money coming in, we would not change our lifestyle one bit. We made no major purchases.
Second, about midway through last year, I stopped taking a salary from the church.
Third, we set up foundations to fund an initiative we call The Peace Plan to plant churches, equip leaders, assist the poor, care for the sick, and educate the next generation.
Fourth, I added up all that the church had paid me in the 24 years since I started the church, and I gave it all back. It was liberating to be able to serve God for free.
We need to ask ourselves: Am I going to live for possessions? Popularity?
Am I going to be driven by pressures? Guilt? Bitterness? Materialism?
Or am I going to be driven by God's purposes (for my life)?
When I get up in the morning, I sit on the side of my bed and say, God, if I don't get anything else done today, I want to know You more and love You better.
God didn't put me on earth just to fulfill a to-do list. He's more interested in what I am than what I do. That's why we're called human beings, not human doings.
Happy moments, PRAISE GOD.
Difficult moments, SEEK GOD.
Quiet moments, WORSHIP GOD.
Painful moments, TRUST GOD.
Every moment, THANK GOD.
Sometimes, the art of distraction works. Like when my sister had to get a shot and the nurse gave her a lollipop and she didn't even notice the shot.