Something that has become strikingly clear to me in the last couple months is just how easy it is to forget who God is when we are not constantly clinging to Him. The Scriptures scream the goodness and truth about God, “in your presence there is fullness of joy” (Psalm 16:11)… “those who seek the Lord lack no good thing” (Ps. 34:10)… “your love, LORD, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies” (Ps. 36:5)”… “ The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10), etc.
It is clear that we have a Father who is good, who loves us and is determined to show us his all-sufficient love. We have a Savior who willingly suffered in our place, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep (John 10:11)… “No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord” (10:18). This is just amazing news. Amazing!!! The logical response to these truths is to praise God forever and never leave his side!
However, we have a sinful nature that causes us to wander and forget. Not only do we naturally desire sin, but there is an evil one who constantly seeks to turn us against our Father. The fight against our flesh is constant and I don’t think I had realized the significance of this until recently. It is a real battle that we must take seriously. The very moment we take our eyes of Jesus, that is when sin gets a foothold and begins its course of destruction. It can look so subtle too, almost harmless… something like, ‘I can’t pray right now because I have this errand I really need to run’ or ‘I just need a few more minutes of sleep instead of reading the Word today’, or ‘why not just take one look at that thing, it won’t hurt’. Worshipping the god of self and the god of pleasure are frighteningly easy and without a constant grasping of the truth, we forget the goodness of God faster than you can say go. Satan knows we are weak and he uses temptation to turn our eyes from truth. We see this in Genesis 3:6 when it says, “so when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate”. Now as much as Satan played a role Adam and Eve’s fall, Eve was responsible for choosing sin in the face of temptation.
The battle with our flesh can seem like an impossible mountain to climb. BUT, the greatest news that has brought me joy this season is that we have a victorious Savior who has already won the battle for us and is here to lift us up out of the dirt. I must remember to cling to the truth about God – that He loves me and paid the ultimate price for me even when I was dead in my trespasses… He is worth far more than any earthly treasure… he is worth more than any other relationship or pleasure I could attain, and He is a good, loving God who is here to fight with me.
It says in James 4:7-8, “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you”. In Psalm 34:18 we read, “The LORD is near to the broken hearted and saves the crushed in spirit”. Hebrews 2:10 says, “For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted”. Romans 6:6-7 says, “We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin”, and finally, “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed” – 1 Peter 2:24.
Wow. What an incomprehensible, beautiful hope we have! What a loving, Faithful, conquering God we serve. We must cling tightly to these TRUTHS so that we may stand firm and unshakable in the face of temptation. Remembering God is our remedy. Let us fall in love with him and be forever changed.
– Natalia Saint Clair, GEM Missionary