Temptation

"Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because having stood the test that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him."
James 1:12

In my last post I told you all about my past and the things that I exposed myself to. The best decision I have made in a while was to turn my back on that life I was living and run to God. I imagine the Devil isn't very happy with my decision and he knows God has won me over. He is doing whatever he can to try and pull me back into the darkness I just emerged from.

Recently temptation has been thrust upon me. When I was in my dark place it wasn't because I was being tempted, it was because I didn't want to cope with my pain in a rational way. I wanted to just forget that I was hurt and numb myself from my feelings. Now that I have decided to sober up and handle my pain the right way, by giving everything to God and trusting him, temptation is coming at me left and right. Coming home around the time of all high school graduations is a very tough thing. Everyone has their minds revolving around graduation parties, and we all know where there is party there is alcohol and drugs. I got invited to a few parties, and the old part of me was begging to go, the new me wanted to stand strong and say no. I had to read James 1:12 in order to remind myself that I am strong enough to say no, because I am not alone, I have Jesus on my side! Tonight a boy snapchatted me and it was a typical boy snap. He wanted me to hang out with him. I told him I was cool with that and that of course we could hang out. Then the Devil's true intentions came into play when the boy started to bring up things we had done in the past. Eventually he asked me if I would do anything with him again. The opportunity was right in front of me just taunting me. Part of me wanted to be angry and ask "God, if you want me to grow stronger in my faith then why are you allowing me to be tempted to do the opposite?" That's the thing though, he doesn't WANT me to fail. Even if you feel like nobody wants you to succeed you have to remember that God is standing there and he is cheering for you. He wants you to make smart decisions and to honor him! It wasn't that he wanted to make things hard on me, that's what the Devil wants, God allowed me to be put into this situation because he knew I was strong enough to walk away from temptation! I was blessed with the opportunity to show everyone that God wont let you fall, he is on your side! I'm not mad at the boy who tempted me, I am happy he gave me an opportunity to choose my future over my past.

When you finish reading this post I want you to leave knowing three things.
1.) God has your back. He will never put you into a situation that you aren't fully prepared to handle. If you're put into the situation you have every bit of strength to make the right decisions. He does not want to see you fail, he isn't playing with you, he is giving you an opportunity to be proud of yourself.
2.) He doesn't want you to fail. His goal isn't to watch you fall. He wants more than anything to see you succeed and live for him. He loves you so so SO much. He sent his ONLY son to die for YOUR sins because he loves YOU and wanted to spend eternity in Heaven with YOU. Everything he has done, is doing, and will do is to benefit YOU. Just think about how much love that takes for someone to be so focused on wanting you to succeed. He loves you.
3.) You will be rewarded. Come judgment day when you're standing in front of God and he talks to you about that moment you were faced with temptation will you be able to say you picked God over anything else? If the answer is yes, and I hope that it is, you will be rewarded. You'll get to spend eternity in heaven with the man you picked over everything else and that is so cool! Nothing you can be tempted with on Earth is better than what you will receive when you meet God. Always keep that in mind.

I hope this has helped you all to understand that temptation isn't a punishment. It's just a necessary part of life that can open so many doors for you if you make the best decision. Temptation is tough, but think about this; resisting a little bit of temptation is a small price to pay for the one who died on the cross for our sins. God is good all the time, and all the time God is good!

XOXO,
Kirby Madyson