Standing Against Temptation in 2011: Part-2
Where is God going to take me in 2011? Sometimes I think I’d love to know the future. I tell myself I could plan better and prepare better if I knew what was coming. The truth is I’m better off not knowing the future. God takes us down difficult paths in order to prove His sufficiency and to purify us. If I knew what was coming I’d almost certainly avoid those hard roads and dark valleys. We humans have two major drives. One is to pursue pleasure and the other is to avoid pain. Neither one of these human drives leads us along the difficult road of discipleship and trust in God.
God cannot be tempted with evil and He tempts no one with it (James 1:13), but the road we walk with Him is beset with temptations all sides. How do we walk in victory? We walk in victory by knowing, living, and often quoting God’s word. Jesus shows us how in Matthew, chapter 4.
Here is the second of three temptations we’re sure to face in 2011. I’ve gathered them from Matthew, chapter-4. I’ll share the third one in a future post:
2. Tempted to test God (Matthew 4:5-7)
The first temptation was to rely on our own power. The second will be to presume on God’s grace…to test God’s faithfulness.
There is nothing wrong with taking tremendous risks in Christ’s name and trusting God for divine protection. Moses did it with Pharaoh, Paul and Silas did it in prison, and Christians outside the U.S.A. do it every day when they risk life-and-limb to proclaim Christ in countries where persecution is real. God calls Christians to trust Him and He constantly calls us to stretch out of our comfort zones. So why did Jesus refuse to throw himself down from the pinnacle of the temple and trust the angels to keep Him from harm? Satan did quote Scripture when he tempted Christ, so what would have been wrong with Jesus jumping into the breach? Wouldn’t that have been an act of faith?
The difference between a leap of faith and a foolish risk is God’s call. I used to know a guy who refused to wear a seatbelt after he got saved. He told me that he was driving in faith and that God would protect him. I would just grunt, roll my eyes, and fasten my seatbelt when I rode with him. I wish I had known then what I know now so I could have given him a better argument (I lost track of him when the USMC sent us to different places. I don’t know if the seatbelt gambit ever came back to haunt him)
If God had spoken to my friend and told him not to wear a seatbelt, then it would have been a leap of faith. The only thing guiding my friend’s thinking, however, was an immature idea about living in faith. God tells us to obey the legal authorities and to be wise as serpents. He gives us wisdom so we can avoid unnecessary danger. He gives us the wisdom to put our seatbelts on. We ignore these actions at our own peril. My friend was testing God by making a foolish decision and then asking God to miraculously protect him from harm.
Jesus didn’t jump because God hadn’t told Him to take that risk. Jesus knew how to hear from God. That discipline–hearing from God and acting on His commands–will serve us well in 2011. God may call us to take tremendous risks, but He’ll also save us from needless peril.
