Why the Trials?
No doubt about it: Life is one long test. But why does God allow trials and temptations?  The answer to this question is very important because it determines how we look at these experiences in our own lives and how effectively we deal with them.

The first thing we should understand is that God Himself does not tempt anyone. To do so would be contrary to His holiness. He cannot lead anyone into sin.

Then where do temptations come from? From our three spiritual enemies. St. John calls them “the concupiscence of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life” (see 1 Jn 2:16). We might describe them this way: (1) the world or material things with their attractions of wealth, power, and greed;  (2) the flesh, or the powerful attraction to sensual pleasures without regard to God’s law and purpose for these pleasures; and (3) the Devil, who urges us to pride, the presumption of self-reliance, and egotistical vanity.

Consider the example of our first parents. God didn’t lead them into sin. He gave them the command about the forbidden fruit, but it was the Devil who tempted them to sin.

Our trials and especially our temptations originate from our disordered inclinations and passions, which seek their own satisfaction without regard to God’s law and purpose.

We must conclude, then, that God permits us to be tempted, so that our love for Him may be known. He Himself doesn’t need to know whether we love Him. He already knows that. It is we who need to know whether we love Him.

Every time, then, that we are tempted, we are placed in a situation to choose between loving Him through obedience or rejecting Him through disobedience. Jesus tells us, “The one who keeps my commandments is the one who loves me” (Jn 14:21). Do what is right by keeping His commandments, and you are telling the Lord that you love Him. Reject His commandments by disobeying them or neglecting them, and you are telling the Lord you don’t love Him.
 

Temptations Teach Humility
But are temptations really necessary? Should we look upon them as assets or liabilities to our spiritual growth? Actually, God teaches us many things through our temptations.

First, temptations allow us to grow in the virtue of humility. Humility is simply recognizing the truth about ourselves. We are God’s creatures.
As such, we are dependent on Him for everything we need, not only our material needs, but also our spiritual needs. Jesus says, “Without me you can do nothing” (Jn 15:5). We can do nothing worthy of salvation without the Lord’s grace.

Temptations have a way of showing us our weakness, because we have to struggle to find salvation without the Lord’s grace. Temptations have a way of showing us our weakness, because we have to struggle to overcome the lure of passion. Confronted with our weakness, we learn humility by calling upon the Lord for help. Our realization of our need for God is heightened in our time of struggle.

Furthermore, humility helps to deflate our ego — our pride, vanity, self-reliance, self-love. This process is extremely important, because it was pride that caused Lucifer to love the beauty God gave him more than he loved God Himself. Then it caused him to defy God’s command to the angels in their trial, in which they had to worship and serve His divine Son in His human nature. Lucifer’s response to God’s command was: “I will not serve!”

Our first parents also sinned by pride when the Devil deceived them into believing that by eating the forbidden fruit, they would become “as gods” (see Gn 3:4). Pope John Paul II says that through original sin, we have all inherited that desire to be “as gods.”

This is why many times God will humble someone by an oppressive temptation or trial after that person has received some extraordinary grace, or accomplished some significant work for the Lord and His Church. This happened to St. Paul. He recounts (see 2 Cor 12:1-10) how he had received an extraordinary revelation in which he was “caught up into paradise and heard things that cannot be expressed in human speech” (vv. 3-4). But so that he might not become proud over this revelation, he said he was given “a thorn in the flesh … an angel of Satan, to beat me, to keep me from becoming too elated” (v. 7).

The traditional understanding of this “thorn in the flesh” is that it was a violent temptation of lust. When St. Paul three times asked the Lord to take it away, the Lord would not, telling him that power is made perfect in weakness (see vv. 8-9). It was Jesus’ power by grace; it was Paul’s weakness in the flesh. The temptation kept him humble!
 

Zeal and Perseverance
Temptations and trials also teach us zeal and perseverance in the spiritual life. When things are going fine, our fallen human nature has a tendency to become soft and comfortable. This in turn leads us to become spiritually negligent and careless.

When God permits trials and temptations to come upon us, on the other hand, they are like a necessary wake-up call. We are moved to resist our sins and sinful attachments. In fighting against them, we throw off any spiritual indifference and apathy. We once again become more attentive to God and watchful to avoid the occasions of sin.

This fight produces a greater purification in the soul. As the writer G. K. Chesterton once put it, “It is good when a Christian gets into a lot of hot water … it keeps him clean!”
 

Growth in Virtue and Piety
Finally, temptations and trials aid our growth in virtue and practices of piety. The early Christians used the Greek word ascesis to describe the effort at growing in virtue. It originally meant an art or skill, and the effort exerted in learning that skill.

Later it applied to the training of athletes and soldiers, for they were learning the skills of sports and warfare respectively. These arts trained them to struggle, to compete, to endure even significant degrees of pain. The early Christians understood well that there is a similar experience in the struggle for virtue and piety.

Let me illustrate with an interesting story from the early “desert fathers,” the leaders of the ancient monastic communities in the wilderness. There was once an old “abba” (“father” or abbot) who had the reputation of praying all the time. A young man arrived in the desert to begin his ascetical training. He happened to ask, “Why do you pray all the time?”

The abba said, “If you understand me correctly, the Devil taught me to pray all the time!”

The young man was surprised, almost shocked, to hear that. “The Devil wouldn’t want you to pray! Why would he ever teach you to pray always! What do you mean?”

The old abba answered: “When I first arrived in the desert, I was overjoyed. This was where I had always wanted to come!

“However, I had never been in the desert alone overnight. When nightfall came, I was afraid in the dark. Were there wild animals, or other dangers? So in my fear, I stayed awake the whole night and prayed.

“When daybreak came, the fear of the night left me. But now another fear came upon me: Where was I to get food and drink here in the wilderness? So I again began to pray earnestly, asking God to help me find something to eat and water to drink.

“By the end of the day, I had found something, but then the fear of the darkness of the night returned, and I stayed awake all night to pray for protection. When daylight returned, there was the fear of finding food again. This pattern of praying all day and all night went on for some time.
“Gradually, however, I became familiar with these needs. I no longer was afraid of the darkness of night, and I had learned to find a daily supply of food and drink. As these physical trials ended, spiritual assaults began. Temptations and trials of all kinds came upon me day and night, and so I resisted them day and night by praying continuously.

“Finally, when I felt I could no longer endure these trials, I called out to God in earnest prayer, and begged Him to lift these difficulties. God heard my prayer, and when He lifted these difficulties, I realized that I was left with the gift of praying all the time!”
 

No Need to Look for Trouble
Now just because we can benefit from trials and temptations doesn’t mean we should go out and look for them. There are plenty of them near at hand, and many of them will eventually find us. After all, Jesus Himself taught us to pray: “Our Father … lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”
We must not put ourselves recklessly into occasions of sin, or foolishly bring on our own problems. But we should realize that when God permits troubles, we can draw much good from them for our spiritual growth by cooperating with His grace. If we seem to be tested continuously in life, as that young high school girl observed, let us remember that these are always tests of our love. Let us pray for the grace, and then work our hardest, to pass each of these tests with flying colors!