Trials and Temptations - What to do?

So James chapter one has really got me thinking...

He starts off with a bang about being joyful in trials. Afterall, that is the way to growth in Christ and wisdom. He pities the rich man who will fade away. The rich can buy their way out of many trials. No growth, no wisdom for them.

He moves on to the flip side of trials... temptation. How can I get out of this trial as easily and quickly as possible? Cheat, lie, steal? Drugs? Alcohol? Remember, temptation is NEVER from God. We might fool ourselves into thinking He's providing a way out, but He wants us to walk through the trials.

So with all this in mind, I'm reading this GREAT blog Liana Dickson (who also has a great blog) turned me on to - Stuff Christians Like - and he goes into the story of the prodigal son. He found something in there that he had never seen before. I hadn't seen it either. Just when things get bad - friends are gone, money's gone, family's gone, no job, nothing - God sends a famine! What?!? GOD piles on. Why? Prodigal Jon surmises it's because the son needed to hit rock bottom.

I love this additional detail I had missed before. I, too, believe sometimes people need to hit rock bottom before they come to repentance. I've been thinking this for the last couple of weeks in light of current situations. Sometimes, God wants us at the very bottom, in the pit, with the pigs. Then, just to make sure no one else can help you out, He sends a famine. I'm sure someone could have helped the son, taken pity on him, but not with a famine. God took away anyone's ability to help out the prodigal. God knew that as long as he had a shred of hope, he would never come home.

So where does this put me? I know as a Christian, I desire to help when I see a need. Scripture tells us to do good if it is within our power to do good. But this is where the trial/temptation thing from James comes in.

I need to be careful not to stand in God's way with my willingness to help. Perhaps someone is going through a trial and if I step in and make it all better, they miss the blessing of the trial. Perhaps someone has given into temptation and I do what I can to help in the mess they've created. Perhaps I am giving them a leg up out of the pit God wants them in. Perhaps my act of kindness is the shred of hope they hang onto that prevents them from going back home. I might be the reason they don't come to repentance.

This is NOT an excuse not to help!!! But it is a call to PRAY, seek God, and study Scripture before we move in with our riches (not only money, but whatever resources we have) to help. This why Jesus says it is almost impossible for the rich man to enter the kingdom of Heaven. And if you are an American, you are rich. We must be very careful not to buy our way out of trials and temptations.

So what DO I do? This same James says to be a "doer of the Word, and not hearers only..." Does this mean we do and do and do? Most would say, James is saying to help, do, give, go, just DO SOMETHING! No, finish the verse. It says, "But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it." It's not that we are to be just doers, it's that we are to be reading Scripture and acting on it, allowing it to change us and transform us into the likeness of Christ. This is the "doing" James is referring to. Then we will DO what Christ calls us to do, not just what sounds like a good thing to do at the time. We need His eternal perspective before we move in.

What did the Father DO in the story? Not much. It wasn't until the repentance was obvious that he ran and accepted and welcomed the son. He could have sent some money, he could have funneled something through a third party, he could have asked his other rich friends to help out his wayward son. But he didn't. He knew that every day in that pit was one day closer to the son's return. And to speed the process up, God/the Father sent a famine.

A famine. I don't want to experience that. I need to dive into God's Word so that I am VERY CLEAR on what He wants me to be doing. Because He might take away my ability to help. Ouch.

Maybe I just need to stand with another in the midst of a trial in prayer. Seek God and pray for His will. I can cry with them and rejoice in their trial with them. I can be God's arms in an embrace. I can be someone there so they are not alone. Maybe I need to step aside when I see someone suffering the consequences of their own actions and they have not yet come to repentance. Maybe by my refusal to help them out of the pit, I can be a part of the repenting process. Maybe one day, in Heaven I will hear their "rock bottom" story and their repentance and know that I didn't thwart that. Maybe.

Thoughts?