How did Jesus fight Satan’s temptations? How does God help us when we are tempted?
Jesus was born man, just as we are, and faced a series of temptations. Just as God was there for Jesus during his times of trial by Satan, God is also there for us if we look deep into our heart and soul.
God sends messages to us in many ways; through friends, through family, through written messages in the bible, on roadside signs and in so many other ways. Sometimes it is really difficult to listen to God’s message, or to clearly understand what the message means, as it is human nature to want to do something our own way and we don’t want to believe that a message from God conflicts with our inner desires. It is so easy to discount God’s message and throw it aside for our own (Satan’s) wishes and desires.
One time my daughter wanted to go to Colorado really bad and she prayed to God that if she got the money she needed by a certain date, through a Christmas bonus, then she would go to Colorado. Well the bonus didn’t come through by that date and she started to convince herself that she could still go, she would just cut some things out of the plans, or she could pay the credit card bill when it came. I told her the choice was hers but reminded her that sometimes God’s answer to prayers aren’t what we want to hear and maybe he answered her prayer by not providing the bonus she was hoping to get in order to go on her trip. She thought about it and decided not to go.
A huge, unexpected, storm hit the evening of the day she was supposed to leave for her trip. She would have been driving. People were stranded for three days on freeways in ice and snow. She would have been stranded in this storm, alone, cold and frightened. About a week later, her boss surprised her with a New Year’s bonus, and she was able to go to Colorado just not in the original time frame she planned. The temptation was there to toss aside God’s answer to her prayers, she didn’t allow Satan to intervene by disregarding God’s answer, and she was rewarded in the end.
God is always there for us, we just need to listen to him.
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