“Resist the devil and he will flee.” (Jas. 4:7)
One of the most common mistakes we make is thinking that we must yield to the temptation to doubt as if it would never go away. Actually, another mistake often precedes that one: failing to see that doubting is a temptation. As we live coram Deo, we will more readily recognize doubts for what they really are: powerfully tempting lies. The temptation to doubt is so hard pressing that it feels as though it will never go away. Indeed, if the intensity of doubting attacks lasted forever, we would never be able to resist. But they won’t last forever if we resist! Giving into temptation as if we had no choice is like coming across a horrible book. You decided that the only way to rid society of its message was to buy up all the copies. However, all this did was empower the publisher to make more copies. That’s how it is with temptation. It’s hold gets stronger and stronger (i.e., stronghold) the more we give into it. The instant we pick up a piece of doubt trash and consider keeping it, James 1:7-8 says we become “a double-minded man, unstable” in all we do, and we “should not think [we] will receive anything from the Lord.” Therefore we must obediently cling to God’s promises.
First, submitting to God and resisting the devil with a raised shield of faith causes him to flee and all his fiery arrows to be extinguished.( Jas. 4:7-8, Eph 6:16) Secondly, “God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.” (1 Co. 10:13) Third, we can be alert and in prayer, “do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.” (Mt. 6:13) And fourth, a temptation such as doubt only becomes a sin that hinders us from living coram Deo once we conceive it as we read in James:
“…But each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death… Jas 1:14-16, 18, 21
Adapted from the Coram Deo Secret
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