Deh weekend.
Went on a marriage retreat this weekend in Big Canoe, and a good time was had.
The study for the weekend was a series of messages John Piper gave on his book, When I Don’t Desire God. Alot of it was you would likely expect from Piper, setting the foundation by saying what he says any time he writes something. Toward the end, he made it much more practical. Here’s a quote, from memory, so it’s not exact, but it conveys what he was saying:
Satan is interested in getting you to do good things, that keep you from the best things. He’s not interested in getting you to do bad things, its easy for us to see the bads things and stay away from them. It doesn’t take much willpower to stay out of bed with another woman.
Now we can debate that last sentence all day, but the point remains. It’s not like the devil tries to suggest that you get in bed with that pretty girl you just met, right off the bat, of course you can see through that… but to befriend her? Befriending a person is a good thing, whether your married or not. But on the other hand, friendship can lead to going to lunch with just each other, which can lead to… well, you get the idea.
All this to say, that is scary. People often talk about people settling for the good things and not holding out for the best, but for the devil to be motivated by those good things as well? Man. The worst thing about it is that if you have friends or family that you think are walking down this well-trodden path, its so difficult to share how you feel in a positive light. Many examples come to mind. People taking the wrong jobs, marrying the wrong people, buying the wrong things, etc, etc. “But Suzy is so good for me!”, they say… yes, but she also may keep you from doing what God desires to see take place in your life.
Enough of this. It is a frightening topic.
FL: Big Red Button – uhh… yeah. Kind of wierd, but funny for alittle while.
Is pressing that button over and over the work of the devil?
is there white button?!?!?
Frightening, but very useful. I had a bout of this back in the day. I dated someone because I thought they would be good for me, and I almost made a very bad mistake. It’s clear the relationship I had was very useful. I learned tons of things about what NOT to do in a relationship. But, she wasn’t the best for me. God taught me a good lesson through that.
frightening indeed.
I started a post last night about this weekend! I wasn’t as good as you though…your quote was pretty on, it was in my notes (which I have with me today) and that was a good summation.(is that how you spell that?) It’s indeed frightening and setting and understanding boundaries is the best way to deal with it.
Leonard Ravenhill and Larry Trammell both said (I don’t know where either of them got it ..)
“the good is the enemy of the best.”
In the Screwtape Letters, an awesome book by C.S. Lewis where a demon is giving counsel to another demon, the older demon tells the younger one how to deal with a young Christian man. He told him to not try and tempt him with outright decadence and lust. Even if he falls for it, he will likely realize the emptiness of it and be an even stronger Christian than before. The real temptation is to get him to use his lust to marry the wrong woman. To marry someone who is not a strong Christian or maybe even not a Christian at all. If you get the young Christian man to fall into outright decadent sin, he’s miserable for a short amount of time. Get him to marry the wrong woman and he’s miserable for life.
The good is the enemy of the best.
Peace.
umm, yeah, so the big red button maker was awesome!