How Long, O Lord?: A Journey From Exhaustion to HopeSample

Years ago, I read a book by a pastor named Dale Burke, and one quote has remained with me for over a decade.

"It's a lot easier to look out a window to blame others than it is to look in a mirror to examine yourself."

When I find myself frustrated with a difficult circumstance, I pause and ask myself, "Have I spent more time looking out the window or looking in the mirror?"

It's way easier to look out the window, point at other people's flaws, and blame them for problems than it is to look in the mirror and ask God to examine my own heart.

James invites us to look in that mirror when he shifts from talking about trials to addressing temptations. In James 1:13-14 ESV, he wrote, "Let no one say when he is tempted, 'I am being tempted by God,' for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one.14 But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire."

Here's a crucial distinction James makes: trials are external forces, while temptations are internal battles. When you're in a trial, you're facing external difficulties and opposition. But when you're facing temptation, the battle begins within.

Tony Evans explains the distinction this way: "God uses trials to develop us, but Satan uses temptations to destroy us." Trials are tools God uses to make us mature and complete. Temptations are tools Satan uses to destroy us.

That's why we're called to endure trials but resist temptations. If you resist a trial, you might be resisting something God is trying to do in your life. But if you try to endure a temptation, you'll find yourself defeated.

James uses the image of fishing when discussing temptation. He says we're "lured and enticed" by our own desires. A lure is a shiny and attractive object that catches a fish's attention, prompting it to bite the hook and be caught.

But here's the problem: James is saying we bait the hook with our own lure, then we entice ourselves. We set the trap, put the bait in there, use it to entice ourselves, and then we trap ourselves.

We're not victims in this scenario. Every time temptation catches us, we have no one to blame but the person we see in the mirror. It's our desires that lure us and entice us.

When you're weary, you're especially vulnerable to temptation's traps. Exhaustion lowers your defenses. Pain makes shortcuts look appealing. Isolation makes poor choices seem acceptable.

The solution isn't to blame everyone else for the mess you see around you. The solution is to honestly examine your own heart and ask: What desires within me need the Holy Spirit's power to resist?

Tomorrow, you'll see precisely where these internal traps lead when we don't resist them.