Unshackled Moments ~ June 13, 2017 ~ Terrible Temptation

The weight of my chains made it hard to breathe, and the chains weren't even material. The vicious cycle of bondage began to beat me until I was as hopeless as I was powerless. I would feel the pressure begin to build, literally. I felt the desire at times, drive at other times and desperate need at others to give in to temptation growing within me as a physical symptom, a knot in the stomach and an increasing tightness in the chest. Most times I tried to do what was right, or at least tried to delay what was wrong, but sometimes I didn't bother. It felt easier to just give in quickly so I could ask forgiveness and move on rather than to fight  for an hour, a day...perhaps two, thinking about the sin more than not, and failing anyway. Sooner or later, I was going to fail, going to fall into the trap, so why bother wasting all that time and energy fighting a battle I couldn't win? Why try to escape when my captor would only hurt me more?

That was the result of the lie taking over my life. No, I'm not talking about the lie I first believed that made this particular sin, or any of the others in my life, seem like a better idea than walking with Jesus and an answer to my needs. I'm talking about the the one that said I should fight the good fight and resist, no, overpower temptation to prove my love for God. Isn't  that what Jesus meant when He said if you love Me, you'll keep my commandments? If  I love God I should be able to just say no to sin, right?

So that's what I tried to do, and it left me empty, beaten, full of shame and sorrow and doubting my relationship with God. It stole my joy, distracted me from the presence and promises of God and consumed my thoughts. Victory became a fable and a fairy tale rather than something to believe could be actually possible.

We all have an area where we're not quite there. We all struggle with something, at least one something. We have not yet reached perfection,  have not yet completely been delivered from the flesh and the consequences of the curse.  The new spirit is still trapped in the old body, and no matter how mature we are, no matter how much we know, we will all face temptation, and we all, everyone, will fall short sometimes.

Indeed there is not a righteous man on earth who continually does good and who never sins.

- Ecclesiastes 7:2

I want to do what is good, but I don't. I don't want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway.

- Romans 7:19

But while that is true, it's not an excuse to simply give in to sin or to live for self. The truth is that as contrary to our natural instinct as it seems, living for self always falls short. No matter how much we do what we want or get what we want, it never fully satisfies.

The problem though is not in coming to believe that it's better to obey, that it's better to be in the care and will of God than to live for self, but rather how to obey. How do we say no to what is contrary to God's will for us and yes to what is right? The answer is found in Galatians 5: 16-17.

So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want.

The key is surrender. Like so many battles of the Old Testament, this is not a battle we can win on our own. If we go into it on our own power and in our own way and determination, the enemy of temptation will trounce us. But if we remember that the battle belongs to the Lord, we will have victory. Our job is not to win the war but to position ourselves in His will and praise the One who fights on our behalf. When the Spirit fights for us, we will not be overwhelmed and defeated by temptation. Remember that We are His children. Our Daddy is our loving protector, and through Him, and because of Him, and with His Spirit within us, we already have what we need to defeat the old nature and live according to the new nature in Christ Jesus. It is the Spirit of God within us that gives us the power to do what we can not do ourselves, even overcome and escape temptation.

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