Genesis 22:1 Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, "Abraham!" And he said, "Here I am."

God, on the other hand, does test your fortitude and integrity. This test brought Abraham closer to God by faith. He believed God and therefore was willing to do anything for Him. This faith was not blind, and this test only reaffirmed the trust that Abraham had in God. God tested Abraham’s faith and fidelity.

Test: To test, try, prove, tempt, assay, put to the proof or test (OLB).

Contrary to this type of testing is temptation. This is done by Satan himself or his minions. In Satan’s temptation of Christ, we see that he sought to bring down His morality, which was impossible to do. It was the exact same model of temptation that he successfully used on Adam. Remember that Adam was created morally innocent, not perfect.

Matthew 5:45 …that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.

So again, what does it mean, “lead us not into temptation” if God cannot tempt us? Throughout the scriptures, we see that God’s universal providence is owned by Him and made abundantly clear. The following scriptures show that God is in control over all things, including evil and temptation. Read them and write down what speaks to you and what you learn from them. (Psalms 104 and 145; Acts 17:25-28; Isaiah 45:6-7; Isaiah 40:12-14)

1 Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.

God has the same control over evil as He does over good.

Romans 5:6-10 For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.

In our unregenerate and fallen state, we deserve to be completely devoured by evil. The truth is that God would be just in allowing this to happen. He is not and never has been obligated to save us. However, to the praise of His glorious grace He did and that by His own choice. Truly, this kind of love is a mystery. Our mercy is recognized upon the moment of our reconciliation with our Maker and His forgiveness of our sins. (Romans 2:4; 1 John 2:1-2; 2 Corinthians 5:21)

We are totally unable to overcome our intrinsic state of being and our weakness is acknowledged. We, on our own, are not able to stand up to temptations. We give in every time. The lust that lies within us all is too active and powerful to overcome without the help of our Savior.