It's On!

"Do that one more time...and IT IS ON!"

That was one of my standard lines to whichever of my four sons was egging on a 'fight'.

Back in the 'the day', we took wrestling matches seriously around the Weber house. Furniture would be moved, the imaginary bell would ring, and the Tag Team Grudge Match started in earnest as the women screamed. This was not like the 'Soap Opera for Men'...that stuff cabled into your living room...Oh no...at Weber Arena, we wrestled for keeps.

Usually 3 sons, sometimes my daughter, and later my youngest, would form a wrestling alliance that kept me 'in the ring' as they continued tagging in and out. It was non-stop thumping that even the Energizer Bunny could not keep pace with. As the kids tagged in and out of the brawl, eventually I would wear down. Sometimes they cheated! More than one at a time would pile on, (they said that never happened, but I'm not buying that) as they worked like a wolfpack in overpowering their loving Dad.

They reveled in Wrestle Mania until the referee broke it up (thank you Mrs. Weber) and made us put the furniture back...that time was usually later than I had hoped...after rug burns, yanked hair, poked eyes, twisted limbs and total oxygen deprivation. Then, they would celebrate; and rubbing insult into injury...they would brag as wannabe wrestling champs. I cannot begin to assess the damage reports when they graduated from elementary school! That is when the brawling turned into beat downs!

"Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him."
James 1:12

James goes on to say..

"When tempted..each one is tempted when by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full grown, gives birth to death. Don't be deceived, my dear brothers."
James 1:13

Trials and temptations. Life is full of the both of them. We feel at times that we are being piled on...over and over and over again by these supposed tag team partners. Yet, one is an ambassador to royalty, leading to reward, while the other is an invitation to depravity, leading to destruction and certain death. One is the means through which we inherit the character of the God who loves, the other is the method of the one who lies, charming those who follow by fraud.

Don't miss the difference and the distinction!

Trials lead us to our knees. Trials invite us to confess our dependency to the Father. Trials draw us into His presence. Helplessness reminds us that the best of our abilities, perfectly timed and properly deployed, still leave us over-matched. Trials make us cry out to God, throwing out our trust upon Him as our only Source of deliverance and lasting hope. Trials develop faith and build champions of prayer who experience the joy of His strength leading to victory.

Temptations unresisted undo those who squander their lives, and become ensnared by their self dependence. Temptations succumbed to leave scars of regret, shame, guilt and bitterness in those who opt for fleeting and temporal 'delight'. Temptations acted upon can put to death a lifetime of character recognitions in a single fateful act...and set into motion the entrapment in the 'cords of sin' described by the wisest man who ever lived, (Proverbs 5:22-23 is a must read at this point).

Some trials indeed come from God as messengers that invite us to share in His life and holiness. Not so with temptation. Each comes from your Life Enemy who is bent on your destruction, and never delivers what he promises with the lure.

When your life is eulogized, how do you want to be spoken of? Do you want to be remembered as the one who was 'beat down' or the one who 'endured through'? Resolve that your daily life and witness is yours to build or break. Resolve that in your trials, you will appeal to God, and in the temptations, you will appeal to Him even more!

"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change..." James 1:16

Trials and temptations both, place us in the position of yielding our circumstances and our choices to Him.

Because you have faced both...be kind to those around you who feel as though they are being brutalized by the 'pile on'. Be there for them in their trials as His ambassador of hope. Pray for them and with them while the assault of temptation is levied against their hearts.

Wrestle Mania at the Weber House was absolutely fun. I miss those days. I reflect on them from time to time. I also realize that 'Wrestle Mania' is real for all who live in this real world of actual trial and relentless temptation. "It's On!"

That's a fact! "It's On" for real.