An Immoral Attraction

Nancy met Don soon after she and her husband moved to a new town. One day when the phone rang, expecting her husband's voice, she said, "Robert..."

Instead of her husband, however, she heard a deep voice, which she instantly recognized as Don's. "I wish!" he exclaimed.

 Nancy murmured, "Don, don't say that."

"Why not?" he replied.

Although Nancy quickly changed the subject and took care of the reason for his call, this exchange began a battle in Nancy's mind. About two months after that phone call, Nancy and her husband invited several people over. She didn't mingle much with Don that night, but the few times they were together, the sparks of physical attraction flew.

That night as she lay in bed, for the first time, Nancy crossed the moral line in her thought life opening the door to temptation. Within weeks, Don filled her thoughts day and night.

After struggling with indecent thoughts for nearly six months, Nancy attended a prayer retreat. Her reserve broke, and she wept openly as she confessed to a small group that she struggled with temptation.

Unexpectedly when she was alone that afternoon, the Lord began to sweetly minister to her spirit. Instead of condemnation, Nancy experienced His tender words falling like dew on her spirit as Psalm 23 and Matthew 11:28 played over and over in her mind. "The Lord is my shepherd...He leads me beside still waters," and "Come unto me all ye who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest."

During the following weeks, when Nancy was plagued by thoughts of Don, she had a new strength and perseverance. She began using Scripture as she prayed: "Set your mind on things above, not on earthly things" (Col. 3:2) and "whatever is pure...think about these things" (Phil. 4:8).

Nancy escaped the treacherous pit of immoral thinking because she had a humble spirit-the first requisite for receiving the cleansing the gentle Word provides. "I will bless those who have humble and contrite hearts," (Isa. 66:2), God promises.

Thank You, Jesus, that Your Word always provides a way to escape Satan's temptations.

"You have purified yourselves by obeying the truth" (1 Pet. 1:22).