Temp Tation
Everybody has a plan until they punched in the face.
God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear, but along with the temptation he will also make the way out so that you may be able to endure it. 1 Cor. 10:13.
A real temptation is by definition desirable. Something that is difficult to resist. This prayer to not be tempted beyond what we can bear has been a long prompted request from the Creator. Sometimes, it feels like He's ignoring you. But in reality, His answers don't come in the form of a lightening bolt. They come in the form of a timely phone call or text message. A request for help from someone else who's under their own trial. Maybe even a knock on the door, someone dropping off a gift to say, 'hey, I love you.'
And when that happens, it does two things: 1. it gets you to reign in your heart (hopefully) and 2. it makes Jehovah more real.
If you ask for a blue car and someone drops off a new pair of walking shoes, you might connect the dots and realize Jehovah gave you what you needed, not what you wanted. But if someone shows up with a blue car, it's hard to just cry coincidence.
Here's the key: Do we recognize intervention when in fact that's what it is? Or do we push it off and try to handle it on our own?
And fail.
When we are successful, it's a big deal. Not just because we get through hell, or at least hell-ish, but because we effect our God's heart in a positive way.
That's important. Way more important than minimizing our own suffering.
A successful trial exposes the enemy as the liar and hate-filled creature he is.
1 Corinthians 10:13 guarantees we'll be successful. Jah WILL make the way out. He doesn't make it easy. Just survivable.
I watched Castaway last night and I was thinking about how hope kept him going.
If I was crashed on an island and guaranteed rescue, maybe a satellite beacon or something. That would massively improve my emotional state while I waited. But it would NOT make the existence there any easier.
Same with our lives. We all have to face something. Some dragon you will need to slay. My dragon is different than yours. I watched a friend struggle for years addicted to gambling. Another (several others actually) addicted to pornography. My own mother, grandfather, cousins and uncles addicted to drugs. These are real trials. But my trial is very different. And wholly unexpected.
Yours will be too. If we could anticipate the trial, maybe we could sidestep it. Hence: always be on guard, and the shrewd one considers his steps and conceals himself.
But a lot of the time, real trials and temptations come when we least expect and in ways we never anticipated.
Thank JAH! for scriptures like 1 Cor. Imagine the anxiety we'd have if we were unsure of rescue when that left hook catches us across the nose? Instead, we are told God is faithful.
Faithful. A friend who is there when we need Him. Who doesn't abandon us. Leave us alone to fend for ourselves. He'll let us carry the ball as far as we can, but then He scoops us up and carries us to the finish line.
And that He uses our friends and family to do that is incredible and wonderful. When they help us, we are feeling the hand of Jehovah. When we help others, we become the hand.
So, dear reader, thank you for your role in in helping someone carry their burden, get over their hurdle, get off their island. Because know it or not, sometimes you are the strength Jehovah gives another to endure.
And I think that's beautiful.
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“May your seas be wide enough for wonder, your harbor always waiting, and your light never fail when another soul is searching.” – The Lantern Keeper