What does God do when I am tempted?

What Does God do When I am Tempted?

No matter how many word studies I do on grace, stories I read on forgiveness or songs I sing about mercy, the one truth my heart just can’t seem to get is the truth of what God sees when I am being tempted to sin. 

If you zoomed in on my morning today you would see me changing diapers, making lunches and having conversations like, “I know your sister looked at you wrong, but it isn’t okay to hit her.” If you are not at the same stage of life, maybe your day looks a little different. Maybe clients are demanding things, you’ve got a long to-do list or far too many tests to study for ... and bills to pay. We can all relate to the bills. But no matter where you are, I have a feeling that these stressful situations lead us both into the same place—temptation. So… how do you see God in this moment? Is He not interested? Disappointed? Cheering for you to do well?  When I feel my day is turning into a perfect storm for me to sin, I always see God the same way, arms crossed, scowl on his face, already judging me for the sin it feels I will inevitably commit. 

This God is not gracious or loving or any of the fluffy things scripture says about him ... so why can’t I get this image out of my head? Today, I am praying God will come and break down this old picture and paint a new picture of who he truly is and how he truly views us. All of us.

How God Dealt with Cain

There are two stories that we see in scripture that paint a different picture of God when he sees the temptation storm clouds rolling in. The first one is the story of Cain. Genesis 4 is often a go-to for any pulpit to scare one and all out of sinning. Phrases such as, “sin a crouching lion” and “sin wants to devour you” come to mind. Even though these are both true, I’ve never been easily scared out of sinning, but I have been lovingly pursued and called out of it. Love works on me. So, I want to look closer at the story to see the God who chases after Cain when He knew Cain was going to sin.

Genesis 3 ended with a curse and a promise. Chapter 4 started with hope—would Cain or Abel be the promised offspring to defeat the serpent once and for all? Adam and Eve got the answer in a way they never expected and experienced a pain no parent could forget. 

“Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a worker of the ground. In the course of time Cain brought to the LORD an offering of fruit from the ground, and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the LORD had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell.” Genesis 4:2-5

Here we see 2 brothers, 2 offerings. God accepting one and rejecting the other. Already, I feel for Cain, he felt rejected, ashamed and … jealous. The anger clouds were rolling in and where was God? Sitting afar and judging him? No. We see him come to Cain…

“The LORD said to Cain, ‘Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.” Genesis 4:6-7

Instead of leaving Cain and watching in judgment from afar to see if he would  or would not sin. God leaned in close and encouraged Cain. He gave him loving fatherly advice. Then he acknowledged his anger and told him to try again, “If you do well, will you not be accepted?” Can’t you see the smile on his face, his hands out, “Come on son, don’t be mad, try again!”

He was cheering Cain on! 

Then just as a gracious parent warns their child of the dangers of playing in the street. Father God puts his hands on his son’s shoulder to whisper the warning, “Sin is waiting on you, but turn back to me—don’t let it devour you!” Sin is not a solution, it is not a comfort to our anger, nor will it fix anything. In fact, God’s warning is his grace to us!

How Jesus Dealt with Peter

The next helpful story is in Luke 22:31-32. Here, Jesus is telling Peter that he would soon deny him. We see an interesting glimpse of what Jesus’ response might be when he knows temptation is coming our way.

“Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.”

Jesus knows that the Devil is about to tempt Peter, and he knows when each of us is about to be tempted as well … and if I am honest, I don’t like Jesus’ response. I want Jesus to say, “Peter, Satan demanded to have you, that he may sift you like wheat, but don’t worry, I told him no.” But just like Jesus, he knew what Peter needed to go through to be refined and come out as pure gold—one who would be the rock on which he would build his church … so he didn’t say no. But what did he do … he prayed. 

Prayer is talking to our Father, the man in charge, about a situation that He ultimately has power over. Prayer is the most powerful thing Jesus could do in that situation, therefore, it is the most powerful thing we can do in the same situation. Prayer is a weapon. Do you think you are moving mountains when you pray? Jesus thought so, and he has called us to pray the same way.

Then he does something that I think is so powerful. He gives Peter the rest of the story. He doesn’t just say, “you’re going to be tempted,” but he tells Peter what to do after, “And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.”

“Turning” is an important word here. It is the same word as repent and is usually used to signify turning back to God (ESV Study Bible, page 2006) so Jesus says, once you repent, “strengthen your brothers.” This is so important because God doesn’t ask us to sit and beat ourselves up after we sin and assume we can’t go back to fellowship with God and others. From this verse, we see that Jesus makes a plan for all of us after we sin- we don’t sin and it’s over but when we sin, then repent… We Are Forgiven. And then once we believe and receive that powerful and healing forgiveness we can then go on encouraging others. We are meant to encourage and strengthen one another, and if we do not receive the God promised and available forgiveness, we trade it in for shame. Shame acts like a blanket that the enemy throws on us after we sin all too often renders us powerless and useless. 

Shame is not from God … grace is.

So today, when you feel tempted (and you will be), what do you think God is doing at each step and where does he want you to run? Like a child who runs to their father when they are wounded, run to your father when you feel tempted. His arms are open (not crossed), his mouth is smiling (not frowning) and he has encouraging words for you (not shame). This is the GOD of the Bible, and he loves you. And by his power, sin is not just an ending. 

So if God chased after the first murderer to lovingly prevent him from commiting sin, what do you think his posture is when you have steam coming out of your ears and are about to sin? Pray and ask him … and my challenge for myself is to turn to him and listen the next time I am so stressed I am about to pop and ask, “God, where are you right now?” and believe that he will answer me.

So as we close let’s pray together:

Heavenly Father, thank you for caring so much to pursue me when I am tempted, to encourage me to fight sin and for always holding forgiveness out to me when I fail. I am sorry I have believed the lie that you don’t care, that you are angry or that you want me to fail. Thank you for loving me. Show me how to encourage others today and remind them of how much you love them too. You are a good God, worthy of praise and faithfully continually. Amen