Evil Will Test Your Metal
Evil Will Test Your Metal
Evil will test your metal; who you are, your core.
It will try to seduce you. It will confront you. It will do all it can to destroy you. That’s its nature.
I’ve heard it said that God doesn’t lead us into temptation. There is truth in that statement, but He does allow us to be tested and, in some circumstances, leads us to the testing place.
In the Old Testament, we have the famous story about Job, located in the book by that name. He was a man of inordinate financial and material wealth. In his core Job was a man of great personal character with an intimate and strong relationship with God.
The story says that God brought Job to Satan’s attention (God led Job to the temptation and testing of Job’s heart). Satan challenged God that Job wouldn’t be so loyal to God if life for Job weren’t so great. God allowed Satan to tempt Job and challenge him in all areas except the taking of Job’s life.
And the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?” Then Satan answered the Lord and said, “Does Job fear God for no reason? Have you not put a hedge around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. But stretch out your hand and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face.” And the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your hand. Only against him do not stretch out your hand.” So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord.”
Job 1:8-12 English Standard Version (ESV)
Job lost everything, EVERYTHING. Satan used his friends and family constantly tempting him to curse God. Satan tested Job’s metal, the core of Job’s heart; who he was and his relationship to God.
Satan was relentless, cruel, and straight up evil.
Job never wavered. He was tested and came out stronger than before. He came out of the trial and God blessed him above and beyond his original wealth. His heart stood firm. When I think of Job’s circumstances I think of a show my grandsons and I love to watch: Forged in Fire. In this show, they have present day “blade smiths” competing in a challenge. The blade smiths are to create a specific type of blade with the competition’s precise specifications but from the contestant’s own design using the metal objects on display.
In the process of creating this blade, they must heat the metal extremely hot. Hammer on this metal until it gets to the right thickness. The thickness is important. When they have to grind the blade they need the perfect thickness for the final blade with enough metal to form the blade but without removing the required metal to be effective. The tests these blades will go through will determine the best blade.
Heat, pound, grind, heat again. If the metal is too thin there won’t be enough metal to make corrections and still comply with the competition’s requirements. The process is repeated over and over until perfection. Then, there is the “quench.”
The red-hot steel gets plunged into the oil. There are flames and steam but then ready to see the character of the work. Did the quenching expose any flaws or weaknesses in the blade? Is there still work to be done? This is an example of how God tests us in our lives and when there are flaws he guides us to go back and fix them.
My grandson, Robby, had read the basic portion of this article so when I asked him, “Do they use oil or water?” His reply was intriguing. They plunge it in oil which makes the blade stronger. When they plunge the blade in oil this process makes it stronger and exposes the flaws so that they can be corrected. But had they plunged the blade in water it would have destroyed it. Some people make that mistake and did so on the show once.
Then, what Robby said was profound, “It’s like God and Satan. God provides the oil and that makes us better and stronger. God helps us see our imperfections, so we are willing to let Him do more work in our lives. Satan tells lies or convinces us to use something that will destroy us instead of making us stronger. But you have to know that the water will destroy the blade, but not everyone knows it until it’s too late. The example is just like the guy that did it on the show.”
Job isn’t the only example. Jesus brings us to another way we can be led to a testing and tempered by the Holy Spirit.
When Jesus was being baptized in the Jordan and came up from the water the heavens open and God said: “This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased.” It was important for Jesus and it is equally important for us to know who we are and whose we are. Jesus knew by God’s announcement that he was God’s son and that God was well pleased.
Then the Holy Spirit came to Jesus and led him into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. Satan would find no imperfections in the core of who Jesus was. Evil tested Jesus’ metal; who He was at His core in the wilderness.
The “quenching in the oil of the Holy Spirit” strengthened the core of Jesus and exposed there were no imperfections in the core of who Jesus was. Jesus was “tempered” in the wilderness.
But there is another reason for temptation.
In the New Testament, we have the story of Peter. He could have said “Yes, I know Him,” but he didn’t. Jesus told him ahead of time the tempting would be there. He also told Peter he would fail. Peter needed to have been in that place of testing and failing so that he could know his character, his need for forgiveness and truth. He was going to be the head of the church. His metal, the core of who he was, needed to be tried and tested while Christ was here on earth so that he and Christ could reconcile so Peter could understand who and whose he was. Thus, he was strengthened by the love of Jesus and by the Holy Spirit.
Peter needed to know that in his temptation to deny Christ there was weakness deep in his heart. He needed to know that the weakness wasn’t fatal but in fact, with Christ, would become his greatest strength. It would be worked into the design and strength of his character. The oil of the Holy Spirit was bringing strength yet continually exposing any flaws so to constantly be polishing Peter’s character.
God allows the testing, so we can evaluate, adjust, and thus strengthen who we are – at our core. In fact, when we look at the Lord’s prayer in Matthew 6, we find Jesus not just teaching us how to pray but teaching us what to expect in life.
This is what He says:
“Pray then like this:
“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come,
Your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.”
Matthew 6:9-13 English Standard Version (ESV)
The temptation is not meant to defeat us but define us and the need for the “quenching of the Holy Spirit” to strengthen the “metal” the core of our heart. The Holy Spirit can reveal imperfections in our character, and when we submit our will to God the Holy Spirit can refine and work out those very imperfections and strengthen the core of our character deep in our heart.
Today are you ready to submit your will to God?
