We identified two main ways through which
temptation comes. One is through persecution and
affliction and the other is through being drawn away through lusts and
enticement. As far as the second category is concerned the right response is no
other than shutting the doors which we may have opened. What is that that you
so much desire? You have to surrender it to the Lord. I believe that among the
desires that could create problems are not only plain desires of the old man,
which in any case have no place in the life of a Christian, but also acceptable
desires, which however have not been submitted 100% to the Lord. For example
when I was a single I VERY much wanted to get married. Shortly after I believed,
at the age of 21 I decided to wait for God to bring me my wife. Yet I thought
that He would do it in the next month or so. As the months passed by I became
impatient. I wanted God to bring me my wife right away. This very strong desire
was actually one of those desires for which James says that they open the door
to temptation. And that’s exactly what happened with me too. Because of this
very strong desire I fell many times into a trap and suffered a lot. Till at
the end I told God “I don’t care about a wife anymore. If you want me to have
one that’s fine. But if not I will continue to love you and serve you”. Once I
did this, once I gave the matter truly to the Lord, resigning completely from
it, then guess what happened: I was never tempted again with it! And after some
years God indeed brought my wife. What I want to say brother and sister is that
if there is something that you very strongly desire (wife, husband, career
etc.) you have to hand it over to God and decide in yourself that even if God does
not grant what you so strongly desire, it will not be a big deal. He anyway
always knows better. You will continue to love Him
and serve Him, regardless of how things turn. Handing over a matter to God and
accepting any outcome that He may bring shuts the door to temptation. You
cannot be drawn away by lusts if you do not have lusts! To summarize: even
desires that are basically OK with the Word of God, can lead us to temptation
if we do not hand them over COMPLETELY to God.
If now the temptation takes the form of persecution
and affliction because of the Word, then the response is again resistance,
knowing that God is not far. He is with you. He will never leave you nor
forsake you says His Word (Hebrews 13:5). As Paul also tells us: “as we become
partakers of the sufferings so also we become partakers of the comfort that
comes from God” (2 Corinthians 2:1-7). And 2 Peter 2:9a tells us:
2 Peter 2:9a
“the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations”
Keep up then steadfast in the faith!