When We Feel Temptation Is Too Much To Handle.

I know that sometimes life can be kind of crazy. It is so easy to justify getting off course with God and to justify our reasons why we keep making poor decisions. I have been there and done that. We compare our sins to sins we could be committing that are "far worse" than our own and we deem ourselves as "good enough."  We stop challenging ourselves and live complacently. Or maybe we justify our sin because right now, we can't handle all of the stress life is handing us. So, instead of turning to God when we need him most, we turn to other things for temporary release. There is a reason that alcoholics are the way they are. They are never satisfied, never truly released from the pain. They then continue to drink just to have the temporary release from that pain for a day. But the problem with drinking and doing other things that bring short lasting results is that we create more anguish for ourselves when we do these things. Our need is never truly met, and we are never satisfied. And so, we need to look at things from God's perspective. He is over here saying, "I am enough. I don't understand why you keep running from the real solution. I want to pour joy into your soul everyday. I want to bless you. And when the hard times come I want to be your anchor when waves crash over you. " In Jeremiah 2:5 it says, "What fault did your fathers find in me, that they strayed so far from me? They followed worthless idols and became worthless themselves." That is so powerful. When we stop and think about, what hasn't God provided? What are we not letting him full control of? Because when we live a life completely sold out and submitted to him, he will be our anchor, our source of joy, our everything. And you can sense his puzzlement in that verse. How am I not enough? He is willing to help us overcome the world, but we have to be willing to be done with our sinful behaviors that we keep trying to justify. I know that before I feel like I am bound to mess up, I think about this verse and tell myself God is enough. Try it, and see how He impacts your life.