Last Saturday, in “Blinded to Blessing”, my wife briefly mentioned that she had encountered problems when our dog had decided it would be fun to “frolic” with a Coyote. If only this had been the last of her coyote problems…

She would learn over the course of the next few days that perhaps “frolicking” was not the proper term for our dog’s encounter with that wild dog. First, the dog came down with a stress-related intestinal infection that same evening, and for the next three days, she demonstrated extreme hesitancy every time they tried to go near that particular path. It occurred to my wife that our dog wasn’t trying to “play” with the wild dog; rather she was trying her best to draw the wild coyote – away from my wife! A “protector” by breed, she saw the coyote as a threat and did her best to “save” her mama! This would explain why she refused to obey!

Fast forward a few days, and meanwhile, the dog was no longer allowed off-leash in this area. My wife was also making an effort to stay close to the fence dividing the housing development from the dog area, for the wild dogs usually won’t approach humans near buildings, or dogs on-leash! This past Sunday morning, however, the same wild dog came after them again, despite the fact that they were close to the houses, despite our dog being on-leash!
 
Recognizing the danger, my wife did all the things she’s learned to do. She put our dog behind her, waved her arms and took menacing steps in the coyote’s direction, all the while screaming her head off.

Fortunately our dog cowered behind my wife, but the wild dog wasn’t fazed. He just kept coming.

As she continued to scream, my wife began moving them slowly towards the gate, key in hand.

The coyote continued to come, and by the time they had reached the gate, he was only 3 metres away. Not wanting to turn her back on him to open the gate, my wife screamed and thrashed her arms. Only then did he stop, and only long enough for her to open the gate and slip inside!

After thanking God that both my wife and our dog were okay, God began speaking to me about … temptation!

You see, temptation isn’t always something that comes to us. Sometimes, just like that first coyote encounter, we chase temptation. Maybe it is because we don’t recognize the danger. Maybe we just want to “play”. Or maybe we are trying to chase the temptation away from someone else! Nonetheless, whether we recognize the temptation as a sin or not, or whether we think we are strong enough to dabble in sin without falling into it, temptation has a way of drawing us in.

Remember how my wife tried to call off our dog, but she was so focused on the coyote that she didn’t even hear her voice? In the same way, God’s Spirit tries to call us away from chasing after temptation: “And when [the Holy Spirit] comes, he will convict the world of its sin, and of God’s righteousness, and of the coming judgment.”(John 16:7-8 NLT). However, so often we just don’t hear – or maybe even ignore! – that guiding voice. And then, just like my wife could do nothing to save our dog from the coyote when she refused to listen and obey, God can’t do anything to stop us from the consequences of the temptations we chase. We have no idea what danger we’re in unless we stop chasing temptation and listen for the voice of God’s Spirit!

However, sometimes those temptations chase … us! What then?

The good news is, Jesus has already overcome the devil: “…only by dying could he break the power of the devil, who had the power of death. Only in this way could he set free all who have lived their lives as slaves to the fear of dying.” (Hebrews 2:14b, 15 NLT).

Our job is to do what our dog did Sunday morning: We need to “cower” behind Jesus and let Him do the chasing! For when we do, we are promised … VICTORY! “For every child of God defeats this evil world, and we achieve this victory through our faith. And who can win this battle against the world? Only those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God.” (1 John 5:4-5 NLT).

The Lord’s prayer says, “And don’t let us yield to temptation, but rescue us from the evil one.” (Matthew 6:13 NLT). This implies that when we keep our eyes on Jesus, and when we don’t let our eyes wander to the temptation, He will deliver us!

Friends, may I strongly suggest that you NOT chase after temptation? Instead, listen for the voice of God’s Spirit. He will NEVER lead you down the dangerous paths! But when you see temptation chasing after you, don’t try to be strong. Cower behind Jesus! He has already won the battle! Let Him bring you to total victory!

Inspired by Rob Chaffart
Founder, Answers2Prayer Ministries