Hi Friends! Welcome to Episode Eleven of the Reaching Hurting Women Podcast: A Contemplative Path of Recovery where we are learning new ways of coping with our daily struggles. My name is Tamara and I will be your host. Today we are talking about: Temptation.
The Bible tells us that there is no temptation that is not common to man. In other words, we all are tempted. And really we should be glad we are tempted because that means we are doing something right!
There’s another way to look at temptation. What if God allowed temptations to come our way as a dry run, a practice session as it were, a learning opportunity, to see what areas of weakness we have that need to be worked on.
If a donut in the office break room has so much power that I can’t resist eating it, that’s a serious weakness that needs attention.
If before we give in to that donut, or that drink, or that cigarette, fill in the blank with what area you struggle with today… If before we give in to our temptation, we roll the movie all the way to the end, we can see what potential disaster could be waiting after our decision to give in to that temptation.
Each temptation is a dress rehearsal, an opportunity through which we are able to learn without physically going through with the behavior. The challenge is, will we actually take the time to roll that movie all the way to the end? Will we step back from our emotions, our physical cravings, and learn without having to get burned.
Temptations show us what we have allowed to have power over our lives. In some cases, these areas of weakness have become idols in our lives.
If I’m spending too much time thinking about having a drink of alcohol, those thoughts will eventually give birth to that action. In that case, my desires were allowed to grow because I let them grow. We must think about what we are thinking about.
Temptations aren’t just about where we go, or what we do, although they play a part. Many temptations begin right in our mind, in our imagination.
Rather that allowing our imagination to grow the desire into the action, let’s use our imagination to see what pain and heartache that desire can cause if we give in to it.
Let use the power of temptation to make a conscious decision and learn without going through the painful consequences.
Thanks so much for joining me today on the Reaching Hurting Women Podcast: A Contemplative Path of Recovery where we are learning new ways of coping with our daily struggles. I hope you will check out the other columns and resources at ReachingHurtingWomen.com this week. Until next time may the grace and peace of God be yours.