New Morning Mercies #33

Today you are not alone against temptation because the One who is your Savior is also your fortress, your hiding place, and your defense.

The Bible calls you, as a believer, to live with three realities in view. The first greets you every day. It is the reality that you live in a world that has been dramatically broken by sin and does not function the way God intended. Paul says it very well in Romans 8, noting that the whole world is “groaning” as it waits for redemption. Because the world you live in isn’t operating as per God’s original design, it presents you with temptations everywhere you live. These temptations play to the sin and weakness that still lives inside you and that is being progressively eradicated by God’s transforming grace. You and I must live temptation-aware; to fail to do so is to fail to recognize the fallenness of the world that happens to be the address where we live.

The second reality is that even though we are God’s children, we lack the power on our own to fight the spiritual battles in which the world of sin and temptation engages us. As we face our vulnerability and weakness, there are things you and I should pray for regularly. We should pray for purity of desire, wisdom to recognize the enemy’s tricks, and strength to fight the battles we can’t avoid. All of this comes out of a humble recognition that wrong doesn’t always look wrong to us. What God says is dangerous doesn’t always seem dangerous. Evil doesn’t always appear so evil in our eyes. So we need protection, not just from external temptation but from our own blind eyes and wandering hearts.

Finally, you and I are welcomed as God’s children to rest in the reality that in this fallen world that throws temptation at us every day, we are never, ever alone. God is with us. He provides the safety we could never provide for ourselves. He fights on our behalf even when we don’t have the sense to resist. He gives us wisdom and strength at those moments when that’s exactly what we need. You and I can face the harsh realities of life in this broken world with courage and hope because we do not face them all by ourselves. Immanuel (“God with us”) is indeed with us in power, glory, and grace. The words of Zephaniah 3:17 ring with as much hope today as they did generations ago when they were penned: “The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save.”

For further study and encouragement: 1 Corinthians 10:1–13