Lent 2021: Day 20 – When We Unwittingly Tempt God.

If we knew how much our lack of trust in God hurts Him, we would be wary of even the erroneous appearance of it. This was what the Israelites repeatedly did during their prolonged journey to the promised land. Almost every offence they committed, including their periods of idolatry, stemmed from their lack of belief or distrust in God’s plans. Unfortunately, it does not take long for the heart that has experienced God’s mercy severally, yet choosing to indulge in repeated distrust of a faithful God, to gradually begin to harden in disbelief.

For what else can it be, but a temptation to the parent, when a child that has been shown the uttermost love and tender mercies, persists in dissatisfaction, complaining and sulking whenever things are not done for him or what he wants is delayed? The devil will not hesitate to feed that fertile, dissatisfied mind with all manner of lies. The parent becomes frustrated at the misguided child, and an acrimonious atmosphere takes hold in the home.

We may find it hard to imagine that we are tempting God in similar situations but that is what our lack of trust boils down to. If we don’t trust God on an issue, we are inadvertently thinking one of a few things:

1. He’s not powerful enough
2. He’s not kind enough
3. His plans are not as good as our hopes and plans
4. We know more about the matter than He does / we are experts on the matter
5. We are wiser that He is / more experienced
6. We can see the outcomes that He can’t see
7. Not having our way is the worst thing that can happen to us.

The first three are a direct affront to His Person, and while we may not be doing it deliberately, the truth is that we are virtually tempting God to prove Himself by going in the direction we want. We can draw a straight line between that temptation and Christ’s temptation by Satan in the desert – prove yourself to be the son of God by telling the stones to turn into bread or by throwing yourself down – and that realization should fill us with remorse.

 “Harden not your hearts as at Meribah, as in the day of Massah in the desert,
Where your fathers tempted me; they tested me though they had seen my works.” Ps. 95:8-9.

May the Holy Spirit help us to constantly recall God’s mercies and goodness in our lives so that our hearts are always filled with gratitude. May we be strengthened in our moments of despair and doubts by memories of God’s interventions in our lives. May we loudly refuse to give the enemy of our souls any fertile ground when we are feeling down and out. May our trust in the intercession of Christ Jesus and our hope in the mercy of our heavenly Father never fail us. Amen.