Should pressure cause you to sin in the journey of destiny?
No amount of pressure or circumstance should cause a child of God to succumb to anything that can cause them to commit any sin or engage in any ungodly behavior. Yes, pressure to commit sin will arise especially when temptation arises – unpleasantry, hardship, suffering or an urgent need situation that you may find yourself. Pressure may also come because of Temptation when you crave to satisfy your evil desire (Jas. 1:14). Any form of pressure to do against the will of God must be avoided. Therefore, beware of the devil’s enticement and incentives that can lure you to sin or loose self-control (Jas 1:14-15).
Pressure is the use of persuasion, influence, or intimidation to make someone do something; or the feeling of stressful urgency caused by the necessity of doing or achieving something, especially with limited time. In the case of Joseph, judging from the quotation below, he must have been under pressure from his master’s wife to commit the damnable sin of adultery with her.
“And it came to pass after these things that his master’s wife [e]cast longing eyes on Joseph, and she said, “Lie with me.”
“But he refused and said to his master’s wife, “Look, my master does not know what is with me in the house, and he has committed all that he has to my hand. 9 There is no one greater in this house than I, nor has he kept back anything from me but you, because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?”
So it was, as she spoke to Joseph day by day, that he did not heed her, to lie with her or to be with her.
But it happened about this time, when Joseph went into the house to do his work, and none of the men of the house was inside, 12 that she caught him by his garment, saying, “Lie with me.” But he left his garment in her hand and fled and ran outside” (Gen. 39:7-12 NKJV).
Joseph resisted sin by not yielding to Potiphar’s wife’s pressure to lay with her. He did not allow his predicament to pressure him to lose self-control. Rather, he put the fear of God first above any unrighteous pleasure. Suffering should not cause a child of God to engage in a seemingly evil way of getting out of that situation.
No one knows how long Potiphar’s wife pressured Joseph had commit adultery with her because “it came to pass” could be a short time or a long time. Moreover, the word “spoke to Joseph day by day” indicates that Potiphar’s wife pressured Joseph on daily bases. The pressure did not bite Joseph because he was less concern about his master but more concerned not to sin against God.
Whereas Samson succumbed to pressure from Delilah and revealed the secret of his power to her. She persuaded Samson and lured him to the point that he succumbed to her pressure. Here is an excerpt of the story,
“Then she (Delilah) said to him (Samson), “How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when your heart is not with me? You have mocked me these three times, and have not told me where your great strength lies.” 16 And it came to pass, when she pestered him daily with her words and pressed him, so that his soul was [b]vexed to death, 17 that he told her all his heart, and said to her, “No razor has ever come upon my head, for I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother’s womb. If I am shaven, then my strength will leave me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man.” (Jud. 16:15-17 NKJV)
You have to read from the Bible, Judges 16 to get the whole story. Delilah pressured Samson to the extent of luring him to get drunk and thus he revealed the secret of his power to her. Delilah told the secret to the Philistines. The result for succumbing to such pressure caused Samson to be overpowered and captured by the philistines. He ended up in the camp of his enemy where he died prematurely.
When your situation seems to be getting deeper into despair and unbearable, remember you are getting closer to the solution for your breakthrough. Do not allow anxiety, desperation, or unrighteous liberation cause you to do any contrary thing against the will of God. Do not succumb to pressure to leak your secret or the secret to your success; keep your secret and let people see your blessing. Beware, do not be enticed with smooth and persuasive word; sanctify your ears to keep it from listening to untrue statements or unholy pressure.
Social media (Facebook and Instagram) has put pressure on the young people of this day from living in the fear of God. Few are living like Joseph who put God first before enjoyment while many are living like Samson who are living a reckless life. The young are not patient for the right time to have all things to themselves to enjoy.
Boys will steal to acquire flashy things seen on social media. At the end, many may end up in jail. Likewise, many girls are obsessed to the point of altering their physical body through plastic surgery, breast implant and provocative revealing outfits etc. they do this to make them look like what they saw on social media. At the end many may end up in despair and disillusion.
Try to restrain from anything (sin, waywardness, unrighteous acts etc.) that can jeopardize the actualization of your expectation. You may be tempted but do not fall for it. Hence, Joseph resisted pressure from Potiphar’s wife. When you fall for temptation, it may elongate the time of your circumstance. or cut off your expected end. Joseph’s destiny was fulfilled because he did not succumb to pressure from Potiphar’s wife to commit adultery with her.
Joseph was jailed for a sin he did not commit but that did not end his story, it is part of the process of the journey of destiny. He remained consistent and did what he had to do. Next.
Prayers
- Pray that God will not allow you to experience any pressure that will cause you to sin against God
- Pray that God will grant you the grace to recognize negative persuasive and influencing word or any intimidation that may cause you to sin against God
- Pray for grace to be sensitive and desist from any appearance of enticement that will mount unnecessary pressure on you.
- Pray for strength from above to help you to resist sin when you are under pressure or influence of any type.
- Pray that the Lord will help you to refrain and not lay your hand on anything that will mount pressure on you, which may jeopardize the actualization of your expectation from Him
- Pray that God will help you to take the right action when temptation mounts pressure on you to engage in an unrighteous act
- Pray that God will deliver you from the hand of people who use persuasive words and smooth talk to seduce and lead people astray.
- Pray that the Holy Spirit will empower you to refrain from doing anything that will make your enemy to overpower you
- Pray that you will not end your life dying in the camp of your enemy
- Pray that the Spirit of God will sever the Christian children and youths of this age from any negative influence on social media
- Pray that God will deliver Christian children and youths of this age from the pressure that entices them on social media to go wayward and behave abnormally.
- Pray that every step that is taken by children and youth Christians will channel them to fulfill their destiny.
by Lawrence Abitogun
lawrenceabitogun.com or christianedification.org