CAMPBELLTON, New Brunswick, June 18, 2023 – Our example on how to deal with provocations (also known also as tests or temptations) is always Jesus.

Jesus knew precisely how to respond.

When provoked, he didn’t engage: He instructed. He didn’t invite a response to his instruction, he simply left it there for the recipient to chew on.

And when he wasn’t directly or personally provoked, he ignored the provocation. It wasn’t his business.

Provocations are designed to test your spiritual mettle. God permits provocations because he wants to see who really wants what he’s offering and who’s just saying they want it. He also wants to give us a chance to move up in his Kingdom by giving us a larger share of his Spirit. Many Christians say they want what God’s offering, but most of those fail when put to the test. In other words, they may claim to want what God’s offering, but when provoked show they’re not actually willing to do what’s required.

Jesus was tested on a daily basis. The most famous of these provocations took place in the desert after his 40-day/40-night fast, but Jesus faced tests every day during his ministry years. We read about those in the Gospels. Sometimes he was tested by his sworn enemies, sometimes by his own followers, and sometimes by strangers. In every instance, God permitted the test. When God said that he was “well pleased” with Jesus, he was stating his approval of Jesus’ test results.

Like Jesus, we also are tested on a daily basis. The tests may not look like Jesus’ temptations in the wilderness, but they come from the same tempter and are meant to trip us up. Here are some of the standard everyday provocations employed by the devil and permitted by God:

• Temptation to be outraged by something.
• Temptation to break the Commandments.
• Temptation to express tolerance for something you know is wrong.
• Temptation to condemn your enemies rather than to pray for them.
• Temptation to “name and shame” your enemies rather than to pray for them.
• Temptation to protest.
• Temptation to focus on end-times “spiritual porn’.
• Temptation to be sustainedly curious about demons.
• Temptation to complain about your circumstances.
• Temptation to blame others for your circumstances.
• Temptation not to forgive (hardheartedness).
• Temptation to think or speak uncharitably of someone.
• Temptation to put someone or something before God.
• Sexual provocations.
• Financial provocations.
• Temptations to misuse or misallocate resources God has put into your care, including your God-given talents.

Obviously, this list of provocations could go on for pages, and I’m sure that even off the top of your head you could easily rattle off a few dozen more. My point in listing them here is to hammer home the reality that nearly every minute of every day we’re tempted to act in opposition to God. Provocations are not a one-off thing or a rare event but an ongoing process of spiritual refining. This process involves learning, testing, failing, relearning, retesting, etc., a specific spiritual principle (e.g., pray for your enemies) until we get it consistently right and it becomes our default position.

All born-again believers are immersed in the refining process from the instant of their rebirth. We can’t avoid it. In fact, if we genuinely want what God is offering us, we welcome the provocations because when we successfully pass them, we gain a bigger share of God’s Spirit and so move up higher in the Kingdom. A higher position in the Kingdom means moving closer to God. Without successfully passing our tests, we can’t move closer to God.

We should never pray to avoid being tested. The only temptation we should pray to avoid is the one Jesus explicitly told us to pray to avoid, which is the test of the tribulation. We should pray not to have to go through that, but every other test we should patiently accept, knowing it’s for our ultimate benefit.

Provocations are a test of our spiritual mettle that, when successfully passed, bring us closer to God. I don’t know about you, but I want to be as close to God as I can be. So while I’m not foolishly going to say to the devil: “Bring it on!”, I will pray for the strength and guidance to respond like Jesus did to whatever provocations God does permit.