James 1:12 - Happy Is The Person Who Remains Faithful Under Trials!

Jam.1:12: Happy Is The Person Who Remains Faithful Under Trials!

Happy is the person who remains faithful under trials, because
when he succeeds in passing such a test, he will receive as his
reward the life which God has promised to those who love him.
James 1:12 (TEV)

Temptation comes from evil desires inside us, not from God. It
begins with an evil thought and becomes sin when we dwell on the
thought and allow it to become an action. Like a snowball rolling
downhill, sin grows more destructive the more we let it have its way. The
best time to stop a temptation is before it is too strong or moving
too fast to control. [Life Application SB]

Peter's fall was not instantaneous, but gradual. Self-confidence
led him to the belief that he was saved, and step after step was
taken in the downward path, until he could deny his Master. Never can
we safely put confidence in self or feel, this side of heaven, that
we are secure against temptation. Those who accept the Saviour,
however sincere their conversion, should never be taught to say or to
feel that they are saved. This is misleading. Every one should be
taught to cherish hope and faith; but even when we give ourselves to
Christ and know that He accepts us, we are not beyond the reach of
temptation. God's word declares, "Many shall be purified, and made white,
and tried." Dan. 12:10. Only he who endures the trial will receive
the crown of life. (James 1:12.)
Those who accept Christ, and in their first confidence say, I am
saved, are in danger of trusting to themselves. They lose sight of
their own weakness and their constant need of divine strength. They
are unprepared for Satan's devices, and under temptation many, like
Peter, fall into the very depths of sin. We are admonished, "Let him
that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he fall." 1 Cor. 10:12. Our
only safety is in constant distrust of self, and dependence on
Christ.
It was necessary for Peter to learn his own defects of
character, and his need of the power and grace of Christ. The Lord could
not save him from trial, but He could have saved him from defeat.
Had Peter been willing to receive Christ's warning, he would have
been watching unto prayer. He would have walked with fear and
trembling lest his feet should stumble. And he would have received divine
help so that Satan could not have gained the victory.
It was through self-sufficiency that Peter fell; and it was
through repentance and humiliation that his feet were again established.
In the record of his experience every repenting sinner may find
encouragement. Though Peter had grievously sinned, he was not forsaken.
Peter's repentance was accepted by the sin-pardoning Saviour.  COL155,6