Temptation

Movies. Movies are my escape. You know, that one thing at the end of a hectic day that helps you to unwind and relax. Everyone has one. Mine is movies. I love just about every genre; drama, romance, musical, sci-fi, fantasy, action, etc. One day my mom confronted me about a movie choice as she didn’t approve. I told her that when God convicted me on the movies I watched, then I would stop watching. She asked me if I had prayed then and asked God. With all the cockiness I could muster I looked her straight in the eyes and said, “No. When He’s ready to convict me then He’ll just convict me.” Cue eye roll. I know, I was young.

Sure enough though, the day came and conviction flooded in. What sort of things had I allowed into my home through the movies I watched? It was time for a radical change. It started out slightly difficult, but I found that as the Lord empowered me the temptation grew smaller. My selection of movies dwindled, but the atmosphere in my house was different. A good different! However, that’s not to say that temptation still isn’t something I deal with.

Just recently I fell into temptation. My son was at school and both of my girls were napping. I had a quiet living room to myself. I turned on Netflix and soon saw one of my old favorite movies. As I’m sure most of you know that if you sit on a selection, Netflix will now play a trailer for the movie. I lingered for a moment and watched the trailer. I saw an actress that I hadn’t recognized in the movie before. I decided to see if it was really her.

I skipped ahead to a scene I knew she would be in. It was the actress I thought it was. I should have then turned it off, but I didn’t. As I watched it continued onto the next scene and what I had told myself was only going to be a “few seconds” soon turned into a few minutes. I started to tell myself that it’s only a movie. Though dark and supernatural in nature, what harm would it really do? I’ve watched it plenty of times before.

As I began to give way to my temptation and explain it away, my dog stood in front of my TV and started barking. For those of you who do not know, I have a rather large Great Dane. He blocked the entire screen and overpowered the sound with his booming bark. As he stared straight at me, I became uncomfortable and turned the TV off. He immediately stopped barking. I couldn’t help but laugh at the situation and say “Okay God. I hear you! You’ll even use my dog to get my attention.”

It reminded me of Balaam in the Bible with his talking donkey. There was an angel of the Lord in Balaam’s path that only the donkey could see. His donkey did everything he could to stay out of the angel’s path. Eventually God opened the donkeys mouth to speak to Balaam. Then God opened his eyes so that Balaam himself could see the angel of the Lord (Numbers 22). My eyes were closed, but because I had shut them. I didn’t want to see the Lord in my moment of weakness. God moved my dog in front of me and used him to “speak” to me. Not like Balaam’s donkey, but in a message that I could still understand.

I gave way to my temptation knowingly and willingly. What I had told myself would only be a second soon turned into minutes and I was trying to convince myself it wouldn’t hurt anyone if I watched the movie. It’s just a movie after all. Isn’t that how the enemy works though? It’s just a small thing. Who will it hurt? Surely just a tiny bit will be okay? Isn’t it good? Don’t you need just a little bit more?

The truth is, God had already told me who it would hurt. But more than that I knew that God had told me to lay them down and I had now willfully disobeyed His command. My mom has often mentioned that God always has His hand on us. He’s either patting us on the head or spanking us on the butt. I certainly deserved a spanking that day, but rather He patted me on the head and told me it’s okay. I will always fall short, but that’s what His grace is for.

Have you fallen into temptation recently? What signs has He put before you to grab your attention? He tells us in 1 Peter 5:8 to “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” We must be alert to the traps the enemy has placed around us for he is surely aware of our weaknesses, but God’s grace is there when we fall. Verse 10 and 11 of that same chapter say, “And the God of all grace…will Himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. To Him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.” There is no better way to end than that!