God’s promises to the tempted
How many of us are tempted? I am sure it would be safe to say that all of us are tempted every day, in fact we are tempted numerous times a day. We know that Satan is hard at work to get you and me to sin and fall daily, and hopefully to get us discouraged enough to turn our backs on Jesus. Satan hopes he can get us to fall enough times so we will get discouraged and give up.
I am reminded of the story of Elijah who stood before king Ahab and declared a drought was coming. Why? Because the nation was in a national apostasy. After three years of famine, it was decided to meet on Mount Carmel for a showdown. The prophets of Baal and the prophets that ate at Jezebel’s table gathered for the meeting. All day the false prophets called upon Baal to send fire down from heaven to burn the sacrifice, but nothing happened. Then when the evening sacrifice was drawing near, Elijah had the people draw near and they emptied 12 barrels of water on the sacrifice and altar. Elijah then prayed to the God of heaven and fire came down from heaven and devoured the sacrifice.
All the people in one voice cried, “The Lord, he is the God; the Lord, he is the God” (1 Kings 18:39). The priest refused to repent, and the angry crowd killed them as Elijah ordered them. What a day of victory for the Lord God! But it made queen Jezebel so furious that she ordered Elijah to be found and killed. Elijah fled for his life, exhausted and in despair he arrived in Beersheba. Then an amazing thing happened to Elijah, he became depressed, his spirit was so crushed that he wanted to die, God was even forgotten. How can someone go from a mountain top spiritual experience to such a low to want to die? This is where we see Satan’s temptations at work, and yet Christ promises that He will never abandon those who He died for.
We may leave Christ and be overwhelmed with temptation, even to the point of wanting to die in discouragement, and depression. But when we get to this point, when trials come upon us, let us go to God in heartfelt prayer. He will not turn us away empty but will give us the strength and grace to overcome all of Satan’s power. We must remember that in Christ there is perfect help for all those who are tempted and discouraged.
We also have this promise found in 1 Corinthians 10:13 (NLT) “The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.” Yes, there are dangers in our path every day, but the whole universe of heaven is standing by to help all those in need.
Let us remember, “It is at the time of greatest weakness that Satan assails the soul with the fiercest temptations. It was thus that he hoped to prevail over the Son of God; for by this policy he had gained many victories over man. When the will power weakened and faith failed, then those who had stood long and valiantly for the right yielded to temptation. Moses, wearied with forty years of wandering and unbelief, lost for a moment his hold on Infinite Power. He failed just on the borders of the Promised Land. So with Elijah. He who had maintained his trust in Jehovah during the years of drought and famine, he who had stood undaunted before Ahab, he who throughout that trying day on Carmel had stood before the whole nation of Israel the sole witness to the true God, in a moment of weariness allowed the fear of death to overcome his faith in God.
And so, it is today. When we are encompassed with doubt, perplexed by circumstances, or afflicted by poverty or distress, Satan seeks to shake our confidence in Jehovah. It is then that he arrays before us our mistakes and tempts us to distrust God, to question His love. He hopes to discourage the soul and break our hold on God.
Despondency may shake the most heroic faith and weaken the most steadfast will. But God understands, and He still pities and loves. He reads the motives and the purposes of the heart. To wait patiently, to trust when everything looks dark, is the lesson that the leaders in God’s work need to learn. Heaven will not fail them in their day of adversity. Nothing is apparently more helpless, yet really more invincible, than the soul that feels its nothingness and relies wholly on God.” PK 174-175
