Trial vs Temptation (updated)

James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are in the Dispersion: Greetings. Count it all joy, my brothers, when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.   James 1:1-3.

The question at church last night was:  What is the difference between a trial and a temptation?  (Some translations use the word trials in the verse above, and others use temptations.  We made the determination that the correct word was trials.)

Our pastor set up the discussion by defining trials as something God sends to draw us closer to Him, while temptation is something satan sends to try to pull us away from God.  I wasn't sure if this was a good stepping off point, cause I knew where it would send us.  But awaaaay we went.

As I told a sister afterward, "I try to stay off my soap box, but I just can't."

Sickness and disease do not come from God.  They are not His will for us.  It still appalls me that people have this view of God where He will put illness on his children to draw us closer to Him!  Where is that in the Bible?  You can't show me, because it's not there.  You may show me a verse and render an inaccurate interpretation to try and prove it (usually by going to Job, who was under an inferior Covenant) but on this side of the cross it simply is not a tenable argument.  God is not the author of that.  Can He use it?  He can use anything, but that's not my point.  My point is: Cancer was taken care of at the cross.  Let's stop building our theology on what we don't understand (i.e. - I prayed for someone to be healed, they weren't, and so God allowed them to stay sick until they died, therefore he wanted them to stay sick until they died, and in conclusion God gave them that sickness and wanted them to die.)  This is how a lot of folks seem to build their view of God.  It's not Biblical.  God's name is 'Jehovah my healer'.

Can you imagine Jesus going up to someone, putting a hand on them, and saying, "I love you, so I'm going to allow you to suffer with migraines, because it will build character and draw you closer to me."  For the life of me, I can't find any example like that anywhere in the New Testament.  I do, however, recall a leper saying, "Lord if you are willing, you can make me clean."  To which Jesus said, "I am willing.  Be clean."  And the dude was healed (this is in Matthew chapter 8).  Notice also that in Jesus' reply he used the words 'I am', once again showing us an attribute of the great I AM; that attribute is one that we need to get through our heads and into our hearts:  Willing.  Not only is God able to heal us, He is willing.

Okay, I got to get off my soapbox (again!), cause it's time to go to work.