Feeling more temptation than usual? ‘Tis the season, and here’s how to recognize and respond to it:
The Lord said to satan, “Very well, all that he has is in your power; only do not lay a hand on him.” – Job 1:12
I don’t know about you but ever since I returned to the Church, I tend to feel like Job during Lent. I feel like God lets the devil a bit off his leash and things tend to get chaotic in my spiritual life!
Jesus was tempted in the desert. And Lent is a time of desert. According to the Catechism, during “the solemn forty days of Lent the Church unites herself each year to the mystery of Jesus in the desert.” So it makes sense that we might feel more temptation in this time as well. But God does not allow anything that he cannot use for good; he can even use temptation and attacks from the devil for our conversion, transformation and holiness.
Here are some attacks that I have come to recognize and the responses that I have found helpful. Have you experienced any of these temptations this Lent?