FOREWARNED IS FOREARMED

As a Christian, you will face temptation, adversity, and problems just like everyone else does.  When (not if) these things hit you, you should neither be surprised nor discouraged.

I’m looking at I Thessalonians 3:1 – 4: 12.  There Paul said, “You know quite well that we were destined for (trials).  In fact, when we were with you, we kept telling you that we would be persecuted.” (I Thess. 3b,4)  He went on to not only confirm that his prediction was true, but to warn them about other matters they should be aware of.

Our world today is not much different from the Roman colonial city of Thessalonica.  Somewhere right now Christians are being persecuted for their faith.  Every one of us is tempted to let our passions control our actions or to fit in with the culture instead of being holy, distinctly separated from the basest parts of society.

Persecution can come to us.  I recently read about three Christian women who were sentenced to three years in jail just because they allowed some Muslim children to come to their Sunday School.  See this article to read more about it: WorldNetDaily: Sunday School teachers get 3 years prison.  Too far away for us to be concerned about it?  “Ask not for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee.”  What happens to our brothers and sisters in Christ is our concern regardless of where it is.

And, like those in Thessalonica and every generation, in our sexually charged society we are tempted to misuse God’s gift of sexuality in prohibited ways.  Paul warned that “It is God’s will that you should…avoid sexual immorality” and that “The Lord will punish men for all such sins.”

We are not only tempted to sin ourselves.  We are also tempted to allow immorality to become acceptable because of political correctness or what Cardinal Ratzinger called the “dictatorship of relativism” in his sermon just before he was elected as Pope Benedict XVI.

Pornography pushes its way into everyday life as “free speech”.  It’s hard to avoid it when you go online.  It can become addicting.  

This week I saw the movie “Human Trafficking” on the Lifetime channel.  One of the characters, the physician of the man whose business was enslaving young girls for the sex trade, went from watching child porn online to taking a trip to southeast Asia for sex with a child himself.  

This was not just a movie.  It reflects the reality of human trafficking for sexual slavery that goes on every day.  Some want to normalize prostitution as a woman’s “right”.  Others recognize it as “a job no woman would choose” and see the link between prostitution and sexual slavery.

We can’t assume we will always do what is right whatever comes just because we are Christians.  If we are prepared, we are more likely to stand firm.  And if we know that God has provided the help we need and a way out of the temptations, we have a better chance of overcoming them.  I Corinthians 10:12,13 says it distinctly:

So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall! No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And 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.

Forewarned is indeed forearmed!