to strengthen our own spirit: “Keep on the watch and pray continually, that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit, of course, is eager, but the flesh is weak.” (Matt. 26:41) Our spirit has to be given a boost or be inclined so strongly in the right direction that any fleshly desire to go the wrong way or follow the course of least resistance is counteracted. Then we will not give in to temptation or “allow place for the Devil.” (Eph. 4:27) With our minds awake, alive, eager to do God’s will, we will be able to move the flesh to obey despite its limitations and imperfections.​—1 Cor. 9:26, 27; Rom. 6:12-14.

16. (a) What continues to work in opposition to our renewed minds? (b) What is needed in order to triumph over the desires of the flesh?

¹⁶ Thus, God does not perform a miracle in our case and remove imperfection and the inclination to sin from our bodies. It is still there, and we are very conscious of it day by day, even though we apply ourselves diligently to a godly course. “I find, then, this law in my case: that when I wish to do what is right, what is bad is present with me. I really delight in the law of God according to the man I am within, but I behold in my members another law warring against the law of my mind and leading me captive to sin’s law that is in my members. . . . So, then, with my mind I myself am a slave to God’s law, but with my flesh to sin’s law.” (Rom. 7:21-25) We would be unable to triumph over the desires of the flesh in our own strength. That is why God grants us the help we need over and above what we are able to do ourselves to meet the requirements, “that the power beyond what is normal may be God’s and not that out of ourselves.” (2 Cor. 4:7) He gives us his spirit, not to perform a miracle to take away the problem, but to give us the understanding on how to cope with it, to endure it, to be trained by it, to prove integrity by it. “For God gave us not a spirit of cowardice, but that of power and of love and of soundness of mind”​—2 Tim. 1:7; Luke 11:13.

17. (a) As we undergo various trials, of what should we not lose sight? (b) Why are we subjected fully to the test at times?

¹⁷ We should not feel that our trials are always special ones involving the great issue of universal sovereignty, such as Job’s trial was, and yet never should we go to the other extreme and feel that we are not contributing to the vindication of Jehovah’s name by our course of faithfulness under test. The Devil and his demons would act to destroy God’s servants without any mercy if God did not provide the necessary protection and the climate wherein faith, hope and love could be nurtured and integrity worked out. The Devil repeatedly calls into question the integrity and uprightness of God’s servants and he often maneuvers matters so that we are tempted, abused, threatened or otherwise interfered with. Some issues are cut very sharply, and it may at times seem to be a very close decision as to whether the individual will maintain integrity and faithfulness under test. If Jehovah effected miraculous deliverance indiscriminately, then there would be a basis for the Devil to taunt Jehovah, that he did not let the issue run its full course: ‘Jehovah helped him right at the crucial point; if He had not delivered him just then, he would surely have failed the test that I set up that time.’ Thus the results would be inconclusive as to the issue.​—Prov. 27:11; Rev. 7:1-4, 9-17.

18. What can we expect in the way of relief from Jehovah?

¹⁸ On the other hand, if the test or trial is being taken beyond what is reasonable, beyond the point where it would prove anything pertaining to the issue, then there would be justification for Jehovah to step mercifully into the picture with relief, with some operation, either by his holy angels who are public servants in behalf of the holy ones on earth or otherwise. The individual may not feel this special help, but he will feel the relief. Jehovah can call a halt to matters, making a way out, if the test has served its purpose, or he can allow it to run its limit, in some instances, if faithfulness to death is the only way the issue can be settled. “Consequently let him that thinks he is standing beware that he does not fall. No temptation has taken you except what is common to men. But God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear, but along with the temptation he will also make the way out in order for you to be able to endure it.”​—1 Cor. 10:12, 13; 2 Cor. 4:7-12.

19. Since Jehovah is “making an estimate of spirits,” what should we be careful to do?

¹⁹ How comforting the words of Paul: “Therefore we do not give up, but even if the man we are outside is wasting away, certainly the man we are inside is being renewed from day to day.” (2 Cor. 4:16) It is the “man we are inside” that we want to keep renewed and to safeguard. As we endure, we remember that Jehovah is “making an estimate of spirits.” (Prov. 16:2) He watches to see if we are letting the spirit of this world and its wisdom motivate us, or if we are keeping close to his Word and responding to his spirit. “Do not be grieving God’s holy spirit . . . go on perceiving what the will of Jehovah is. . . . keep getting filled with spirit.”​—Eph. 4:30; 5:17, 18; Gal. 5:16-26.

20. Jehovah has given us his spirit and his Word for what purpose? What will the next article show?

²⁰ If we are going to make it into God’s new order of things for mankind, we must avail ourselves of all the provisions Jehovah has made for life. In this article we have seen how his spirit and his Word are indispensable aids without which we cannot do. There is a third provision that is indispensable also, and in the next article we will see how it too is a loving provision from Jehovah to his people in their quest for life.

Recognizing the Part Played by Jehovah’s Organization

“One isolating himself will seek his own selfish longing; against all practical wisdom he will break forth.”​—Prov. 18:1.

1. What craving did Jehovah put within human creatures, and what happens when this cannot be satisfied properly?

WHEN Jehovah God created man and then created his helpmate woman, he purposed that they should multiply their kind upon the earth and fill the earth. In time, the earth would be teeming with perfect human creatures, yet not overfilled. It was not God’s will that any should live lives that were unrelated to