As You Are

This week has been one of those weeks where I feel like the enemy has been coming HARD after my progress. Overall, I feel like this has been a year of tremendous growth for me on a personal and spiritual development level. I feel in tune with the Lord and aware of the areas that He’s calling me to grow. I feel like I’m finally allowing myself to be open to His refinement. So far, this process has been overall, manageable, because my love for Christ and feeding my spirit has outweighed the desire to feed my flesh.

But this week??? Y’ALL.. The devil really said, “bet.” My flesh has been screaming this week, begging to be fed. And guess what? I’ve really wanted to give in. And guess what? I haven’t. And I’m so proud of myself. 

Maybe you find yourself in a similar situation this week–your flesh is screaming at you to feed it. You feel the urge to give into temptations, or to turn back to things that the Lord has asked you to step away from. If that’s you, I want to encourage you this week with what helps me on the days when I feel like the enemy really wants to distract me and/or attempt to strip me of the progress I’m making in my walk with the Lord: 

1. I draw near to God (James 4:7-8)

In James 4:7-8 it says: 

“Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”

We resist the devil by drawing near to God. We draw near to God by saying, “Help! I need You!” We draw near to God by asking Him to renew our hearts, which simply means asking Him to realign our desires with His. We draw near to God by asking Him to fix our focus on Him–to remove the distractions from the world that the enemy wants to place in our view.

When we draw near to God, truly draw near to Him–I’m talking mind, body, spirit, and heart. The enemy will flee. 

2. I ask for God’s eyes (1 Corinthians 10:13)

1 Corinthians 10:13 is my favorite verse to cling to in times of temptation. It reads: 

“No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.”

This verse is so encouraging to me, and has been an anchor for me in peak seasons of temptation. Why? Because it promises me (and you) two things: 

• God will never let me be tempted beyond what I can handle
• God will provide a way out when I am tempted

When I find myself in a tempting situation I usually pray something like this: 

“Lord, You are faithful to never let me be tempted beyond what I can handle. Lord, I’m at my breaking point. Please give me Your eyes to see that way out.” 

Sometimes, the way out will take a lot of self-control and discipline. You’ll have to physically remove yourself, you’ll need to say “no” to something you were excited about, etc. However, I can tell you this: the courage to embrace self-control and discipline has always been worth it. I’ve never regretted it. 

3. I remember the true reward (Matthew 7:21-23)

My true reward is Jesus and spending eternity with him in Heaven. The enemy wants me to believe that the true reward is found here on earth, by giving into fleshly desires–lust, greed, power, etc. However, that couldn’t be further from the truth. Our reward is Jesus. I love the way Jesus explains this in Matthew 7:21-23:

“‘Not everyone who says to me, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?” Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’”

This scripture gets me every time. I don’t want to be someone who claims to know Jesus, but isn’t willing to submit my will, my flesh, and my desires to Him. In fact, Jesus plainly says here we won’t enter the kingdom of heaven if we don’t do His will. And guess what? His will is for us to know him, and when we know him, we can’t help but to live transformed lives. We can’t help but turn from the devil and his tempting ways. Why? Because we have truly seen and tasted that the Lord is good (Psalm 34:8). 

I’d like to end by saying that if you find yourself in a season of battling temptations and you’ve given in at times–that’s okay. God still loves you–He always has and He always will. In Proverbs 24:16 it says: “for though the righteous fall seven times, they rise again, but the wicked stumble when calamity strikes.”

When you fall, just get back up. That’s all He asks. Get back up and repent and keep going. You’ve got this, I’ve got this. His ways and thoughts are higher than ours–keep leaning in (Isaiah 55:9).