Help With Temptation
Finally, a weekend without restrictions. It was what Tony had been waiting about two weeks for. It was the same every time he went up north to spend the weekend at his friend’s house. They ended up spending every Saturday night trying to find a party or a buyer. However, after that killer hangover last time, he wasn’t really sure where he wanted to be. That was why he was glad that Karla was going to be there tonight. Karla had made an oath for a peer listening group at school and had made good to that commitment. He was sure that having at least one person there who was going to be sober would help him resist the temptation of alcohol himself.
It was only after many aspirin and hours of sleep the next day that he realized that he was going to have to rely on more than the actions of others around him if he didn’t want to be snared by alcohol’s delusions. In I Corinthians 10:13, God tells us that “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.”
Temptations like this are very common for man today. I’m sure that you yourself have experienced something similar to Tony’s situation at some time or will soon in the future. And what will you do? Resist or submit? It is certainly one thing to say that you won’t fall, but completely different when it actually occurs.
Tony really had no one to blame for his actions but himself. If he would have only listened more carefully to these words he would have seen that Karla was more or less what God was talking about when He said, “…he will also provide a way out so that you can stand under it.” But God created him with the freedom to make his own decisions and if he would have outstretched his hand to God, he may have been able to follow Karla’s abstinence as easily as he had at first thought he would be able to.
THINGS TO THINK ABOUT: How could Tony have avoided this situation? Was it wrong for Tony to think that Karla would help him retain sobriety? Give examples of how God provides “outs” for the temptations in our lives?
PRAYER SUGGESTIONS: Begin each day asking for God’s help in turning down the temptations we’re faced with in our everyday life.