isaster come not again.

Satan's desire is to keep us in ignorance of our {168} weakness, and he
would persuade the sinner that his relation with God is at all points
what it ought to be. Then, having soothed the soul with the opiate of
deception, he would bind us hand and foot. But whatever he may be able
to do with those who have submitted themselves to his unholy will, God
will not have it so with those who are seeking to be faithful, but
forces Satan to act as His messenger to warn us.

"Temptations," it has been said, "are often very profitable to us
though they be troublesome and grievous."[7] We have much to learn in
the consideration of this saying. Why should a child of God who is
daily and consciously receiving and enjoying the gifts of a loving
Father find the direct solicitation to offend Him so difficult to
overcome? If one whom we knew to be our enemy should try to persuade
us to commit some act that would be a deep dishonour to a loving
earthly parent, we should not find it hard to repel the suggestion.
More than this, the fact that such a thing had been proposed would
instinctively impel us to some immediate word or act of devotion, that
would leave no shadow of doubt upon our love and loyalty.

An answer to this question comes from the Holy Ghost in the very
temptation that is vexing us, for in it He would teach us two truths:

{169}

(1) The first is a very humiliating one, namely, that although our
reason recognizes our relation and duty to God, yet somewhere in our
nature there is a powerful tendency to choose evil rather than good,
the service of Satan rather than the love of God.

The Apostle describes his own experience in his letter to his Roman
converts. "That which I do, I allow not," he says, "for what I would,
that I do not, but what I hate, that I do.... The good that I would,
that I do not, but the evil which I would not, that I do."[8]

Nor need we be in the dark concerning its extent, for the struggle for
the right is always grievous in proportion to the strength of the
tendency to choose what Satan offers.

(2) Again, when God permits a temptation that is hard to overcome, He
is giving us a sign that should teach us that our love for Him is
wanting, and that He means us to try by every means to increase it. We
ought to be able to act towards God as we do when one whom we love with
an earthly love is involved. We read the lives of the Saints, and we
see with what ready i