What does Jesus offer us in the face all the bad things that could happen?

A marriage that could fall apart. A medical treatment that could fail. You could lose your job for doing the right thing. Your child could make a terrible decision. Your finances could unravel. Someone you love could get sick. You could make a mistake that changes the course of your life.

We know these things can happen because we’ve seen them happen. And that’s what makes an uncertain future so difficult. We don’t know what’s coming, and our natural impulse is to take control.

Jesus provides us another way.

We’ve been working our way through the Lord’s Prayer. Jesus has taught us how to pray about the present: “Give us today our daily bread.” He has taught us how to deal with the past: “Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.”

Now He teaches us how to pray about the future: “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil” (Matthew 6:13, ELT).

I’ve prayed those words hundreds, perhaps thousands, of times. But this week, my understanding of them was enriched and deepened, as much as any text I can remember in 40 years of teaching the Bible.

The Greek word translated temptation has a broader range of meaning than our English word conveys. It can include not only temptation but also testing and trials. That means Jesus isn’t merely teaching us what to pray when we’re tempted by sex, money, power, revenge, or some other sin. He’s teaching us how to face whatever may be waiting for us in a future we cannot see.

A temptation. A trial. A test. A confrontation with evil.

And the word translated deliver has the sense of rescue. So a helpful paraphrase of Jesus’ prayer would be: “Father, do not bring us into testing, trial, or temptation, but rescue us from the evil one.”

This doesn’t mean God tempts us to sin. James makes that clear: “God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone” (James 1:13b, NIV). But we do encounter trials, tests, temptations, and evil. And underneath them is perhaps the deepest and most pervasive temptation of all: Will I trust God, or will I trust myself?

Peter learned this the hard way. At the Last Supper, Jesus told His disciples they would all fall away. Peter essentially said, “Maybe everybody else will, but I won’t.” He was confident in his own strength.

Later, in Gethsemane, Jesus told Peter, James, and John, “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Matthew 26:41, NIV). And what happened next? They fell asleep.

Then Jesus was arrested, and Peter, along with the rest of the disciples, fled. As we all know, Peter eventually denied three times that he even knew Jesus. Quickly, he discovered what all of us eventually discover: Our own strength is not enough for what the future may bring.

Maybe you’re facing something right now and you have no idea how it’s going to turn out. Maybe it’s your marriage, your health, a child, your finances, your work, or a decision that could change the trajectory of your life. The future is uncertain, and the impulse is to trust your own strength and take matters into your own hands.

But Jesus teaches us to pray.

And when temptation, testing, or trial comes, He will provide what we need to endure it: “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it” (1 Corinthians 10:13, NIV).

Notice where the confidence rests. Not in us. God is faithful.

That doesn’t mean we become passive. We exercise wisdom. We take responsibility. We resist temptation. We make the phone call. We go to counseling. We tell the truth. We do the next right thing. But we don’t put our ultimate trust in our ability to control the outcome.

We trust our Father.

Think about the hardest things you’ve already been through. Who sustained you? Who kept you? Who was there when you thought you couldn’t keep going? Wasn’t it the Lord? When you look backward, I believe you will have good reason to trust Him when looking forward.

Yes, Peter failed his test spectacularly, but that wasn’t the end of his story. He went on to live his life for the glory of God because Jesus restored him, teaching him to depend on a strength greater than his own.

And God is going to do the same for you and me. Why? Because that’s just who He is. He is faithful.

So, what about all those bad things that could happen? We don’t know what they will be. We don’t know when they will come. And we don’t know exactly how they will turn out. But we do know our Father, who will be with us when they come. Trust Him for whatever lies ahead.

Always on your side,

Pat

For Reflection and Discussion

• Heart (Reflect): Looking back over your life, when have you experienced God sustaining you through a temptation, trial, or test that you weren’t sure you could handle?
• Head (Understand): How does understanding temptation to include trials and testing deepen the meaning of Jesus’ prayer, “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil”?
• Hands (Apply): What bad thing that could happen are you most concerned about right now? What would it look like for you to entrust that uncertain future to your Father today?

Want to go deeper?

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