The new Smurfs 2 animated movie is out. The plot is this: Smurfette has a secret that the wicked wizard Gargamel wants. So he creates a race of mischief makers known as the Naughties, to lead her away from the Smurf community. I don’t want to spoil the movie for you so I won’t tell you the secret or if she gave in to the temptation. But it’s a comical look at temptation.
Even if you’re not a little blue Smurf, we all face temptation. Even Jesus faced temptation. Matthew 4:1-11 recounts the events of Jesus being tempted by Satan in the wilderness after He had fasted for 40 days and 40 nights. We can discover some principals in the way that Jesus responded to temptation which we can apply to our lives today.
Matthew 4:1-11: “Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred. And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.”
The first principal is this: When we draw close to God Satan will tempt you.
It is at those times in our life when we are seeking God through prayer and worship; it is as we get closer to God that we will come under attack.
1 Peter 5:8 says, “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”
The Bible teaches us that we are living within the midst of a war. You and I can either choose to be an innocent bystander – which is most likely to make us unarmed casualties – or we can recognize the nature of this conflict and arm ourselves with the whole council of God which will enable us for victory!
“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.” -Ephesians 6:12
One surprise about temptation that you may not be aware is that God is not going to let you be tempted or tested beyond your capacity to resist it.
1 Corinthians 10:13: “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.”
What this means is that whatever difficulty you may go through, God believes you are strong enough (through Him) to go through it or He wouldn’t have allowed it. God filters every temptation and trial we go through. I have had struggles where I have thought, “I can’t handle this.” But God had more confidence in me than I had in myself.
This does not mean that you will be successful in the temptation. But it does mean that God knows you can handle it.
Sometimes people think that if you’re spiritually strong you won’t go through difficult trials or temptations. This look into Jesus’ life shows us different. Even Jesus went through temptations. I encourage you to stay close to Him while you’re in the midst of struggle. Let His power become your power.
What are you struggling with today?
What has helped you resist temptations that might help others?