The Purpose of Testing

I'm always searching for the answer to "does God tempt us"? A dear friend of mine gave this article to me a few years back. I surf back to it from time to time. It gives me strength, hope that our God doesn't touch evil. He makes all things good, again.

God does not set temptations before anyone, for "God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man" (James 1:13). However, God does permit trials, temptations, and periods of testing to come, even to His children. Can there be any value in this? Do these experiences serve any good purpose? They must, because we are told to "count it all joy" when they come to us (James 1:2). AND WE ARE ASSURED THAT "ALL THINGS WORK TOGETHER FOR GOOD TO THEM THAT LOVE GOD, TO THEM WHO ARE THE CALLED ACCORDING TO HIS PURPOSE" (ROMANS 8:28). At first it may seem that no joy could come from our trials, but a little reflection will s how that blessings may indeed be the results.

In the first place, trials afford us a means of proving ourselves. One may say that he has faith, but he will never know how strong that is until it is put to the test. It is little wonder, then, that James refers to life's trails, or temptation, as a "proving of your faith". It is not so much the things that come to a person in life as what he does about them., how he meets them, that is of the utmost importance.