run like hell

It's almost too bad being a mouse in (or near) homes, buildings. You're poking around, darting here and there, minding your business. But then suddenly, you spot this unbelievably gorgeous piece of human food, just sitting there. 

Sure, the "platter" it's sitting on looks a little weird, but you crave this treat. You want it because you want it.

You cannot resist. You edge closer, wanting just a taste of of the delectable delight. This is usually how mice encounter a heaping dose of life-altering pain. 

It's also like this too, with temptations we face.

To be a human being in this world is to face temptation. Temptations tend toward something enticing, something beautiful, something enjoyable -- at first. But within the temptation is what would ruin us. A sweet outer shell that coats a bitter, poisonous core. It's either something good misused (money, food, friendship, drink, sex, language, etc), or something that's just rotten through and through.

And even though we may know it's not good for us -- we want it anyway.

For Christians, the reality of temptation appears in the fabric of the most known prayer in the Bible, the Lord's Prayer (lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil...). Let's be clear: having to face temptation is not a sin (by sin, I mean missing the mark -- misusing others, ourselves, the world around us for our own selfish ends).

My pastor, during a sermon some years back, shared some bracing truths about humanity and temptation 

... mainly, that people continually overestimate their ability to withstand temptation in tempting scenarios. Pride comes before the fall.

When have you overestimated yourself in such scenarios? When have done something you previously thought -- or swore -- that you'd never do? It's happened to my friends. It's happened to me. It's probably happened to you, too.

The apostle Paul had this to say about temptation, in his first letter to the church in Corinth, Greece. 

"Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed, lest he fall. No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to [people]. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation God will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry." (1 Corinthians 10:12-14)

A few points to spot:

a) "let anyone who thinks he stands take heed, lest he fall" -- the mere presumption that we're self-sufficiently strong enough to withstand a temptation becomes a warning sign. 

b) "No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to [people]" It can encourage us to remember that whatever temptations we face are not unique to us. Yes, our backstories, particulars may differ from other people. But the object of temptation isn't new to this world. In other words, you're not alone with what you face. Other people have faced it. You can too.

c) "he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, with the temptation God will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it." God will always provide a way out of temptation's snare. The way out might not be easy. The way it may cost. But there's a way out. Take the way out whenever you can. 

 Clamber for the escape. Keep fighting to get away.

d) "Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry." If (for example) you struggle with gambling, God's not going to be impressed by how well you abstain -- in the presence of slot machines, at a casino -- from betting money. The Lord's counsel is to flee.

To run like hell. To stay far, far away. To recoil back from temptation, and to RUN from it.

e) "God is faithful" However deep or longstanding your temptation may be, and however many times you've tried to break free and have not yet, God's faithfulness outlasts, outreaches, out-shouts. No temptation can break God's faithfulness to us. Our temptations don't get the last word, ever. 

Rest on these words, sisters and brothers. It's OK to run like hell away from temptations. It's often the wiser course of action to take. Temptations are harder to resist than we think.