January 28
“Then Satan answered the LORD, ‘Does Job fear God for nothing? Hast Thou not made a hedge about him and his house and all that he has, on every side? Thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. But put forth Thy hand now and touch all that he has; he will surely curse Thee to Thy face.’ ” Job 1:9-10
Overcoming temptation in my experience is much easier when things are going smoothly, when our lives and work are being blessed by God, when we are at peace with others and feel loved by those closest to us. It’s much easier to resist temptation when you feel God and your loved ones are on your side and supporting you, even depending on you. But what about times of adversity, failure, loss, and rejection? What about those times when as far as you can tell God and your loved ones seem to be against you, and you feel abandoned and forsaken by God and man?
How good are we at overcoming temptation when we make an investment that fails, or we lose our jobs, or our spouse leaves us? When those closest to us scorn us and are critical of us, and those we thought were our friends seem too busy for us and become distant and unavailable? When doubts assail us and all we can think about is how worthless and incapable so obviously are? When we feel the weight of the failure we have become, and think how God must be finally fed up with our sins and foolishness and has decided to remove His blessings from us? When all the circumstances in our life laugh at us and tell us that we have been rejected by God and man, why be obedient to His word and try to do the right things?
Why obey God when He is decidedly against me? This must be the only correct conclusion, or otherwise God would be blessing me and prospering me, right? Why even bother trying to resist temptation in such times; if God is against us, what reason is there for continuing to try to obey and please Him? Obviously, trying to do the right thing doesn’t work, right?
Satan knows this also, that it is easier to follow God when He blesses us and things are going well, and it is much more difficult during times of failure, adversity, and rejection. That is why the Enemy of our souls asked God to let him put Job to the test by taking away the blessings God gave him. He knows our weaknesses and knows that we are much more vulnerable to temptation when we feel abandoned by God and man. And he continues to use this strategy today.
What trials are you facing? Do you feel abandoned and rejected by God or man? Do you find that these trials make it easier or more difficult to overcome temptation? Are you sinking deeper in sin or using sin as a way to escape your pain?
In the next few days we will explore this aspect of overcoming temptation in more detail and share some ideas that hopefully will help us remain faithful to God during times of adversity and rejection, when we feel like there is no longer a reason and purpose to trying to please God and obeying His commandments.