When Tempted

Yesterday I was thinking through the events of my week so I could choose a Divine Encounter to write about. There were a few that stood out in my mind, but for whatever reason I didn’t feel lead to share them. Then this morning I knew why and what to share.

Last night I was having one of those moments where I felt angry about some comments that my husband had made. Rather than thinking through the situation and letting go of words that in the long run didn’t really matter, I chose to marinate them over and over in my mind. I say marinate because I was soaking in the hot tub and was allowing myself to get as agitated as the water with the jets on high.

I thought of comeback words, dramatic actions that I could take and other ways to justify my out of control thinking. But God provided a better way, a way out. He offered me a right way to process my thoughts and to see the situation as an opportunity to put into practice the many things He has been teaching me over the last few weeks.

He reminded me of his words in 1 Corinthians 10:13 which read, “But remember this—the wrong desires that come into your life aren’t anything new and different. Many others have faced exactly the same problems before you. And no temptation is irresistible. You can trust God to keep the temptation from becoming so strong that you can’t stand up against it, for he has promised this and will do what he says. He will show you how to escape temptation’s power so that you can bear up patiently against it.”

Frustrations, pride, selfish desires and pity parties are things that everyone experiences and they have the ability to pull us down in a rapid spiral if we don’t choose to take hold of God’s way out. His way out is to think about whatever is true whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things.

My Divine Encounter took place when I chose to think about the things of God, when I chose grace over my pride and it did not disappoint. I was able to enjoy the rest of my evening with a right mind and peace in my heart.