Four Lies About Temptation
As a counselor, I often have clients who are confused in their temptations. They feel they should be further along in their sanctification and they hate the sinful desires that fill their hearts and minds, leading them to condemn and beat themselves up for what seems to be desires that come from their own hearts.
I recently read a letter from John Newton encouraging a person dealing with temptation. In the last section of his letter he gave four areas where we can be on guard against the attacks and lies of Satan when he desires to continue to take advantage of our weaknesses and doubts.
1.“It is hard for them, during the violence of the storm, to conceive that any good can possibly arise from the experience of so much evil. But when the storm is over, they find that the Lord is still mindful of them.”
Often, we are so discouraged by our temptations and overwhelmed to the point that we believe the Lord has left us to our own strength. I think we are so aware of our weakness and the great weight of temptation on us that it doesn’t seem clear at all that any good will come from this trial.
However, it’s important in those times of discouragement to encourage our hearts by reminding ourselves of past times when God has been faithful to us, and how he will help us now. We often can say that “yes, he helped me then, but will he help me now?” In the past we trust him, but with the present and future we cannot. Remind yourself of God’s faithful presence in your past and you will find strength and hope in the future.
2. “We cannot prevent dreadful thoughts from arising in our hearts; but we should be cautious of giving them vent, by speaking unadvisedly. This is like letting in wind upon a smothering fire, which will make it burn more fiercely.”
I do not suggest that we should not come to God with our complaints, our cries and laments to him. But often our fears control our thoughts and we allow the spiral of doubts and unbelief to create an image of God that is false and we believe this false image instead of reminding ourselves that “the eternal God is your dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms.” (Deut. 33:27).
3. “To persuade them that all the fear and tremble arises immediately from their own hearts…It is not always easy, nor is it needful, exactly to draw the line between the temptations of Satan and our own corruptions: but sometimes it is not impossible to distinguish them. When a child of God is prompted to blaspheme the name that he adores, or to commit such evils as even unsanctified nature would recoil at, the enemy has done it, and shall be answerable for the whole guilt. The soul in this case is passive, and suffers with extreme reluctance what it more dreads than the greatest evils which can affect the body.”
I often try to encourage clients from being over scrupulous in figuring out whether their desires are coming from within or outside of them. Do I want to curse God or is that Satan? It can become so obsessive and unhelpful. But I do like what Newton says that if you are appalled at the idea of cursing God, or pushing that person into traffic then the idea doesn’t come from within your heart but outside of you. This should give us relief to know that these are lies of Satan seeking to condemn us further from the grace of God.
4. “By discontinuing prayer, we give the enemy the greatest encouragement possible, for then he sees that his temptations have the effect which he intends, to intercept us from our stronghold. When our Lord was in an agony he prayed the most earnestly; the ardour of his prayer increased with the distress of his soul…too often temptations and difficulties, instead of rousing our application, dishearten and enfeeble us, so that our cries are the faintest, when we stand most in need of assistance. But so long as prayer is restrained, our burden is increased.”
Newton also gives the opposite example, instead of not praying, we spend too long praying because we believe that if we earn God’s favor with long prayers that He is more likely to have grace on us and help us. Both ways are wrong.
We stop praying because we feel covered in sin and believe God despises us so we turn away not believing God will have compassion on us. Or we try to earn his favor back by long prayers, as if by these prayers we can now control God.
But God knows our weakness and our frame, he knows we are dust and we cannot overcome our temptations. That is why we pray, because we cannot do this on our own. It is the Lord’s delight to help us in our time of need.
