Worst Temptation Ever

It happened, late one afternoon, when David arose from his couch and was walking on the roof of the king’s house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful. 2 Samuel 11:2

Back in my active addiction, I drank too much alcohol, but alcohol was never my first choice. Opioids were. I’ve always been thankful then, that there aren’t opioid stores as there are liquor stores. If there were opioid stores next to every grocery store, I think the temptation would be far worse for me. The last time we went to Mexico in fact, where you can buy whatever opioid you want, I asked my wife to go with me whenever I went out. I simply didn’t want to be alone near that kind of temptation. It’s not that I was craving opioids or worried about getting sucked into a Mexican pharmacy, but everyone has their own worst temptation, and I know that preparing for that temptation is always a good choice.

King David, I think, didn’t see his worst temptation coming and he certainly wasn’t prepared for it. In today’s passage, we’re told how David was relaxing on his palace roof when he saw a nude woman bathing. This is a man who obeyed God through terrible trials. He was no villain, but rather, was a man after God’s own heart (1 Samuel 13:14). In every major decision, David went to God, seeking and following his will. Not this time though. This time David experienced lust and impulsively followed it, taking that woman into his bed. He was king after all. He could do whatever he wanted. He deserved a reward. Besides, if she didn’t want this, then she wouldn’t have been bathing nude in front of him, right? I can hear the excuses and justifications in his mind because I’ve said similar things in my drug use.

We all have our own struggles, and we all have our worst temptations. For most men, sexual sin is a continual temptation and the problem for us, is that we often don’t prepare for victory ahead of time. Rather, we indulge in lustful thoughts, which is preparation for failure. When pornography is as easy to access as our phones then, what do we expect? If we’ve been letting our minds run wild, we stand no chance when temptation is in our pocket.

My addiction has taught me that the little things matter. If I allow failure in my little thoughts, they have a way of snowballing into bigger thoughts and eventually bigger actions. If I fail at facing my worst temptation, it’s because I’ve not prepared for it. So, if I desire to be prepared for that temptation, then daily I must daily guard my thoughts, planning for success instead of practicing for failure.