Living a victorious life requires constant momentum. If you pause, there is a high possibility of regression. When you stop, you face two choices: moving forward or going backward. The burden of sin and the allure of temptation still linger in our hearts, tilting the scales towards a life of sin.
We have not fully matured in our relationship with Jesus, as thoughts of pornography still occupy our minds. We are haunted by images and photographs that can reignite the flame within us, leading us to fall back into our old patterns.
keep pushing
So the only option we have to break free from this temptation is to keep pushing forward. It’s like climbing a mountain – you can’t stop in the middle. Stopping means wasting precious daylight, and as night falls, it brings an ominous sense of danger.
Remember, it takes a large effort to get a rusty train moving. It requires ample lubrication and fuel. However, once it moves, things become easier. The more it moves, the smoother it becomes, regardless of all the factors that may cause it to slow down. Even if it slows down, it can regain its speed again. But if this train comes to a complete stop, it will require a significant amount of energy, just like it did when it first started.
Here’s another example we have by looking into motor physics.
An electric motor requires extra power when starting up. This can be 6-8 times the full load current. The extra power is needed to overcome the friction of the stationary components. This is called starting current. However, as the motor speeds up, and the load becomes more balanced, the power needed usually decreases.
Hopefully, this emphasizes the importance of moving forward. When you distance yourself from porn and focus on seeking God, you will feel the weight you carry lighten. You’ll experience peace in your heart as a token of God’s kingdom, which gives you a reason to keep pushing. Things will become easier than you expected.
The more you persevere, the stronger your relationship with God will become. Confronting your true temptations will be easier with this closeness, bringing you inner peace. In addition, you will find God cleansing your heart, giving you the strength to withstand Satan and say no to temptations that once appealed to you. Each step forward will reduce the resistance you face. You will experience the light burden of Jesus.
I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:14).
Standing still is the opposite of this.
Standing still
Jesus Himself commented on this, discussing a person whose heart God had cleansed and saved from temptation. However, instead of filling their heart with pure thoughts and actions, they remained stagnant. While their house appeared clean, they failed to cultivate purity in their thoughts and actions. This is similar to when we distance ourselves from pornography and masturbation, thinking we have it all figured out. In that very moment, Satan laughs because we have unknowingly played into his hands.
When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none. Then he says, I will return to my house from which I came. And when he comes, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order. Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first. (Matthew 12:43-45).
So, if you do not keep moving, you are not only risking a relapse into the sin that you are trying to escape from, but you may also become a target of other evil powers attempting to draw you away from Jesus even more.
- Let’s use David as an example.
He was engaged in God’s war, where he consistently emerged victorious in battle. However, one day, when the army was already at war, he decided not to join them.
It happened in the spring of the year, at the time when kings go out to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the people of Ammon and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem. (2 Samuel11)
He paused for a moment and then wandered aimlessly. Eventually, he found himself on a rooftop, where he caught sight of Bathsheba taking a shower. As history tells us, the story unfolds from there.
He started breaking God’s commandments one by one. He engaged in adultery and, to avoid getting caught, another evil spirit tempted him to deceive Uriah. The plan was for Uriah to get drunk and sleep with Bathsheba so that the baby would appear to be his. However, when the first plan failed, another evil spirit intervened and convinced David to send Uriah to the front lines of the army, where he would be killed.
- Another example is Elijah.
After escaping from Isabel, who wanted to kill him, he traveled for a day into the wilderness. Exhausted, he found a spot under a broom tree to rest. Overwhelmed with despair, he prayed for death, saying “It is enough! Now, Lord, take my life, for I am no better than my fathers! (1 Kings 19:4).
Sometimes, we try to escape from the overwhelming burden. Satan wants us to focus on the heaviness of the burden to discourage us, instead of turning to Jesus, who is ready to relieve us. satin want you to fall into depression and lose your hope to the point you wish for death.
Don’t get discouraged in those moments, like God did to Elijah sending him food. He will send you words or friends or even peace in your heart telling you that you are on the correct path.
But careful, Satin will move quickly from making you feeling depressed to making you feel victorious, that peace you getting from god when you pray can mistakenly make you think our journey’s over. We underestimate the power of constant prayer, and Satan exploits this weakness to make us feel victorious prematurely. He can postpone the struggle and temptation, deceiving us into believing we’re safe.
If you’ve ever felt like your life is okay and you’re doing well after praying for few days, be aware that you may actually be in imminent danger. How can life be okay during a battle? That voice in your head is cold and sinister. Telling you that everything is fine is just a step in his master plan to make you stop praying and disconnect you from your source of power, then he will drag you back into the same darkness you’ve been trying to escape from.
If you stop praying you’re not okay, soon he will pull you into depths you’ve never experienced before. Eventually, you’ll cry out to God, wondering why He left you, but He didn’t. He simply stepped aside when you stopped praying to allow you to navigate on your own and see where your choices will lead you.
He remains faithful, He will come and save you once you ask, once you back to your prayer, but He may slow down so that you can learn and understand the magnitude of being without Him and hoping that will be a lesson for you to learn once he rescued you.
And the Angel of the Lord came again a second time and touched him and said, “Arise and eat, for the journey is too great for you.” And he arose and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mount of God. (1 Kings 19:7-8).
Because a single day is insufficient to flee from danger, God dispatched His angel to bolster Elijah’s strength and provide assistance on his continuous journey forward.
my dear, praying for a day or two is not enough to flee danger been engulfing us for so many years, the journey is too great, the only way to win is going forward and what gives you power is the food that he gives to you during your prayers.
Hear my cry, O God;
Attend to my prayer.
From the end of the earth I will cry to You,
When my heart is overwhelmed;
Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.
For You have been a shelter for me,
A strong tower from the enemy.
I will abide in Your tabernacle forever;
I will trust in the shelter of Your wings.
(Psalm 61:2-3).
don’t get deceived by satin telling you now you won, you still have a long journey, it will get easier but you need to know that now is not the time to pause, even if the circumstances sounded in your favor and you don’t feel the heat of your old temptation on your skin, your goal is not to get the comfort now but to get to him, to reach the mountain.
keep praying for 5 minutes (step1)
May add 5 more minutes (step 2)
Win this battle.
