Escaping the Pressures of a Crazy World

Hebrews 4:15: For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.

Today, temptation seems all around – TV, internet, e-mail, magazine stands, the office, to name but a few. With the economy in shambles, the stress of financial woes tempts many of us to do things we would have never before considered. Often, temptation leads to small compromises that in themselves don’t seem so bad at first, but eventually, they can lead to acts we would never have considered at the beginning of the slid. Unfortunately, temptation doesn’t usually appear as an ugly beast. It is typically cloaked in the appearance of beauty or good – an attractive person, money, self-elevation, a must-have possession – that can lead to bad decisions that hurt those we love as well as ourselves. How can we possibly resist the temptations of today’s sensory overloaded world? There is only one way – look to Jesus! The Bible says He faced every temptation we will ever know … and resisted them all! It further says Jesus sympathizes “with our weaknesses.”

Is that an excuse to turn temptation into an act of sin? No! 1 Corinthians 10:13 says, “No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.” Wow! Though we WILL BE tempted (and sometimes fall, only to be forgiven when we confess and seek God’s forgiveness), God protects us from temptations beyond what we can resist and promises to provide a way out! In that promise, we can all find hope as we face life’s temptations!

Posted by David Morris