Uncompromised: How to Withstand Temptations When You're Most VulnerableSample

Matthew 4:1-11 is one of the most interesting stories in the Bible that applies to all of us. Here we have Jesus, the powerful Son of God, in a vulnerable state. He was "led into the wilderness by the Spirit to be tempted by the devil."

The story goes like this: Jesus fasted for 40 days and 40 nights in an isolated place. Just like us, Jesus' human side was physically weak and mentally/emotionally strained from being alone in the wilderness for over a month! The "wilderness" portion of the story is critical because it's a place of the unknown. You never know who or what is watching you, there's always something rustling in the trees, you have a heightened sense of awareness, and you likely have high anxiety because danger is constantly lurking. Though your prayer game is strong, you probably still feel isolated and in need of companionship. To top that off, Jesus was fasting all day, which means he was probably exhausted, dehydrated, and severely undernourished. My imagination tells me that Jesus was extremely vulnerable to an attack! Right on cue, the adversary slid in to conduct a multi-layered attack.

Temptation #1: Physical Needs and Desires

He began by tempting Jesus' physical needs/desires. If you think about it, this is the first and sometimes easiest daily failure–especially when we go a while without something. For example, if we decide to cut sugar from our diet, it's almost like our senses are heightened and we can smell and see cookies from a mile away!! So, how did Jesus respond? He told the adversary something like this: "Nah. I'm self-disciplined enough to focus on more than just feeding my fleshly desires. I have big dreams! By praying and denying myself food over the last 40 days, I've trained my body how to survive and become more self-disciplined."

Denying ourselves physical desires is an extremely effective way to work our self-control muscle and grow self-discipline. Fasting (i.e. going without food or other desires to focus on praying) is one of many ways we can grow our willpower. Other methods include:

1. Understanding and being honest about our cravings and desires.
2. Actively tracking when we're most vulnerable and hungry for our individual desires.
3. Setting clear and achievable goals to combat the perceived void that develops when we don't get what we need or want.
4. Finding new healthy hobbies.

These are just a few ideas to get you started that have worked for me. I highly recommend searching for and applying what works best for you. Give that physical temptation the “Not today, bruh!🤚🏾” You can do it, and the self-discipline you develop will prepare you for the second and more complicated attack that we'll learn about tomorrow–an attack on the mind.