There was a time in my life years ago when I was suddenly and unexpectedly assailed by a temptation that under normal circumstances would have been powerless. While many people battle alcohol addiction, I was spared from that bondage. Prior to coming to the Lord, I did get skunk stinky drunk a couple of times, but my last drink occurred months before becoming a Christian. I do not recall ever desiring so much as a sip during the next sixteen years. My husband, on the other hand, wrestled with a Goliath alcohol addiction. Our fridge was always well stocked with beer until the day he entered into a relationship with Jesus. I normally just viewed my husband’s booze as a nuisance; however, a stabbing temptation of mega proportions viciously attacked me one morning and intensified throughout the course of the day. As the day progressed, I felt as though I was in a deeper bondage than my unsaved husband. I was so afraid that I would give in.
Due to our fallen nature, we all have areas where we struggle. I often fail when it comes to gluttony. I have learned the necessity of asking God to help me guard against becoming emotionally dependent on someone other than Him. He also has to remind me far too often to quit trying to do the Holy Spirit’s job.
However, the day I was tempted to get drunk was far different. No level of normal caution was helping. I literally…VERY LITERALLY…had to flee.
I took off and drove around for quite some time, praying all the while. At one point I asked God, “Why am I struggling like this? I don’t understand!” The Lord then explained that the devil was trying to get my husband to reject entering into a relationship with Him, and Satan wanted me to experience the agony of
believing it was my fault. Heaven only knows how badly the man I love would have been disheartened if he had come home and found me drunk. Instead I stayed in the presence of the Lord, praying in the Spirit and with understanding, and did not return home until I sensed that the Lord was releasing me to do so.
That all happened many, many years ago. I have not experienced the temptation to drink once since that day. My husband has also been walking with Jesus for many years now and has been freed of a bondage to alcohol.
I have noticed that when temptations tend to be either extraordinarily rampant or strangely subtle, something pivotal is happening in the spiritual realm. We need to take our fighting orders from the Captain of the Lord’s Army. Satanic darts can strike like hidden grenades when someone is about to give their heart to the Lord or a new ministry is about to be launched. It is of utmost importance to Therefore
take up the full armor of God, that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm (Eph 6:13). We may not understand just what is happening, but we are wise to realize that if the enemy attacks so fiercely, something worth standing for surely is at stake.