Temptation – it often takes the shape of food and drink that promises to satisfy our hunger and slake our thirst. It promises fulfillment and happiness – poking into the dark hours with beckoning fingers of hope, interrupting the drudge-laden routine with moments of tantalizing excitement, relieving the pain with experiences of pleasure and delight.

Temptation never lets up. We may have sometimes envied Jesus who had angels to help Him after His forty-day ordeal in the wilderness. Do we wonder if it’s fair that we, composed of such human stuff, should be so constantly exposed to that which so very often cannot be humanly resisted.

We are exposed to temptation – and we discover very realistically that we cannot win all of the temptations. It is said that temptation is necessary to Christian maturity. It can be used by God to develop our dependence on God. It ought to result in keeping us close to God. We are supposed to grow stronger in the heat of conflict and even to discover that our weaknesses can become channels of divine power and sustenance.

God doesn’t send temptation, but God obviously allows it. And with every temptation God promises the grace to resist it. We must learn how to hold on to that grace. God grants us the grace and love to be faithful to God and God’s will for our lives.