The Battle Before the Victory

On Second Thought

Scripture Reading: Luke 4:1–14

There is something remarkable about the opening verses of Luke 4 that we often overlook. Immediately after His baptism, immediately after the Father’s affirmation—“You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased”—Jesus is led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness. We might expect a season of celebration, public ministry, and visible success. Instead, we find solitude, hunger, testing, and spiritual conflict.

That pattern is not unique to Christ. Many believers discover that moments of spiritual growth are often followed by seasons of temptation. After a meaningful worship experience, a fresh commitment to God, or a season of answered prayer, unexpected struggles can emerge. Satan delights in attacking God’s people when they are attempting to move forward in faith. Yet Luke’s account reminds us that temptation is not evidence of God’s absence. In fact, Jesus entered the wilderness under the leadership of the Holy Spirit.

The temptations Satan presented to Jesus were carefully designed to challenge His trust in the Father. The enemy tempted Him to turn stones into bread, appealing to physical needs. He offered worldly authority and power, appealing to ambition. He even encouraged Jesus to throw Himself from the pinnacle of the Temple, appealing to pride and presumption. Beneath each temptation was the same question: “Will You trust the Father, or will You take matters into Your own hands?”

The enemy still uses similar tactics today. He whispers that immediate gratification is better than patient obedience. He suggests that shortcuts are preferable to faithfulness. He encourages us to seek recognition, control, or comfort apart from God’s will. Yet Jesus answered every temptation with Scripture. The Word of God became both His defense and His declaration of loyalty to the Father.

This is why Ephesians 6 describes the armor of God. Temptation is not merely a psychological struggle; it is part of a spiritual conflict. Paul speaks of the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shield of faith, and the sword of the Spirit. These are not symbolic decorations. They are practical resources for daily living. Truth exposes lies. Righteousness guards the heart. Faith extinguishes doubt. Scripture defeats deception.

Perhaps one of the most comforting truths in this passage is that Jesus understands temptation from personal experience. Hebrews tells us that He was tempted in every way as we are, yet without sin. Because He has walked through the battlefield Himself, He is able to strengthen those who are struggling. He knows the weight of loneliness, the pressure of testing, and the persistence of the enemy’s attacks.

Many Christians carry unnecessary guilt because they confuse temptation with sin. Scripture makes an important distinction. Jesus was tempted, yet He never sinned. The appearance of temptation does not mean we have failed God. The struggle itself is not evidence of spiritual weakness. The issue is what we do with the temptation when it arrives. Do we entertain it, or do we surrender it to Christ?

God never abandons His children during moments of testing. First Corinthians 10:13 assures us that He provides a way of escape so that we can endure. Sometimes that escape comes through prayer. Sometimes it comes through Scripture. Sometimes it comes through wise counsel or simply removing ourselves from a compromising situation. Whatever form it takes, God’s faithfulness is always present.

What encouraged Jesus after the wilderness? Luke 4:14 tells us, “Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee.” The temptation did not weaken Him; it strengthened Him. The battle became preparation for ministry. The wilderness became a classroom where obedience was refined and demonstrated.

On Second Thought

Here is the paradox many believers miss: victory over temptation is not primarily about proving how strong we are. It is about discovering how dependent we are. We often imagine spiritual maturity as reaching a place where temptation no longer bothers us. Yet Scripture presents a different picture. Jesus did not defeat temptation by drawing upon independent human strength. He relied completely upon the Father, the Spirit, and the Word of God.

That means temptation can reveal something valuable. It exposes the areas where we still need God’s grace. It reminds us that self-sufficiency is an illusion. In a strange way, the wilderness becomes one of God’s greatest training grounds because it teaches us to lean upon Him more deeply than we otherwise would. The enemy intends temptation to drive us away from God through guilt, fear, and discouragement. God can use the very same struggle to draw us closer to Himself.

The next time you find yourself facing temptation, remember that the battle itself is not proof of failure. It may be evidence that God is preparing you for greater usefulness. The wilderness preceded Christ’s public ministry. The struggle came before the power. The testing came before the testimony. What feels like opposition today may actually be preparation for what God intends to do tomorrow. The question is not whether temptation will come. The question is whether we will meet it alone or stand, as Jesus did, in the strength that God provides.

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The Gap in the Elevator: A Man’s Guide to Surviving “The Fade”

1,841 words, 10 minutes read time.

The basement of the church smelled of floor wax and over-steeped decaf, a scent that always seemed to cling to the industrial carpet long after the meetings ended. Caleb Vance leaned forward in his plastic folding chair, his elbows resting on his knees, his hands clasped so tightly his knuckles showed white under the fluorescent hum of the ceiling lights. Around him sat six other men—men with calloused hands, tired eyes, and the same heavy silence he carried in his own chest. This was the inner circle, the group where the masks were supposed to come off, yet Caleb felt the familiar weight of his own pride pressing against his ribs like a physical barrier. He wasn’t there to give a sermon; he was there to gut-check the reality of being a man when the world stopped looking and the shadows started speaking. He took a slow breath, the kind that hurts a little, and began to recount the night the foundation of his life almost turned to sand.

He told them about the hotel bar, describing the amber glow that promised a warmth his own home hadn’t provided in months. He didn’t shy away from the visceral details—the scent of Elena’s sandalwood perfume, the way the light caught the condensation on her wine glass, and the sharp, dangerous intelligence in her eyes that made him feel seen in a way that Sarah, buried under the domestic weight of laundry and bills, hadn’t managed in years. Caleb described the conversation not as a seduction of the body, but as a seduction of the ego. He spoke of how he had let the “Expert” and the “Leader” personas take the wheel, feeding on the validation of a stranger while the tungsten ring on his finger felt like a lead weight dragging him toward the bottom of a dark ocean. He told the men about the pride that whispered he deserved this—that because he provided, because he sacrificed, he was entitled to a little fire to keep him warm.

The room was silent, the only sound the distant claking of the building’s heater. Caleb recounted the moment Elena stood up, her eyes locking onto his with an invitation that required no translation, and how he had followed her out of the bar like a man possessed by a ghost. He described the hallway of the hotel, the carpet muffling his footsteps as he moved toward the elevators, every step feeling like a micro-betrayal of the man he claimed to be in the light of day. He told them about King David on the rooftop, not as a Sunday school story, but as a visceral warning about what happens when a man of status and strength finds himself bored and unobserved. He was standing at the precipice, the moment where the internal monologue shifts from “should I?” to “why shouldn’t I?”, and he felt the roar of his own lust and resentment drowning out the quiet truths he had spent a lifetime building.

Then, he reached the climax of the night. He described the elevator chiming—a bright, sterile sound that cut through the haze of the bourbon and the sandalwood. Elena was inside, holding the door, her finger resting on the button for the top floor, her silence a challenge to his integrity. It was in that exact second that his phone vibrated in his pocket. Caleb told the group about pulling the device out and seeing the photo Sarah had sent: his kids asleep on the sofa, a tangled mess of limbs and innocence, accompanied by those three words that felt like a localized earthquake: “Our rock. Drive safe.” The title “rock” wasn’t a compliment in that moment; it was an indictment. He was the foundation of their world, and he was currently leaning into a crack that could bring the whole structure down.

Caleb looked around the circle of men, his voice dropping to a low, jagged rasp. He described standing there with one foot on the marble of the lobby and the other hovering over the metal track of the elevator threshold. The sensors were beeping, a soft, rhythmic warning that the door was going to close. Elena was watching him, her expression a mix of curiosity and cold patience, while the image of his sleeping children glowed in the palm of his hand. He told the group how he could feel the cold air of the lobby behind him and the climate-controlled promise of the elevator in front of him. The “narrow gate” wasn’t a metaphor anymore; it was the two inches of space remaining before the doors sealed shut.

“I stood there,” Caleb said, his eyes scanning the faces of his friends, seeing their own struggles reflected in the way they leaned in. “I felt the pull of the man I wanted to be for one night against the man I had spent twenty years becoming. The door started to move. The beep got faster. I had to decide if I was going to be the rock they thought I was, or the ghost I felt like inside.” Caleb stopped talking, the silence in the church basement becoming thick and heavy. He didn’t tell them if he stepped in or stepped back. He simply sat back in his chair, leaving the choice hanging in the air like woodsmoke, as the other men looked at their own hands, wondering what they would have done in the gap.

Author’s Note

I chose to leave Caleb Vance standing in that gap—that narrow two-inch space between the lobby marble and the elevator track—for a very specific reason. As men, we often want the resolution; we want to see the hero win or the villain fall so we can close the book and feel like the world is in order. But real life, the kind of life we live in the quiet hours of a Tuesday night or in the back of a church basement, rarely offers us a clean “The End.” I have been one of those men in those circles, sitting in those folding chairs and listening to the low, jagged voices of brothers sharing their own versions of the elevator lobby. I’ve heard the struggles, the hidden resentments, and the moments where the “rock” started to crumble. To be honest, these situations usually end in a way we don’t like to talk about: in deep hurt and the stinging salt of betrayal. We like to think we can play with fire and not get burned, but the wreckage left behind by crossing these boundaries is visceral and lasting. The brutal reality is that very few marriages survive this kind of fracture; once that glass is shattered, you can try to glue the pieces back together, but the cracks remain visible forever.

To go deeper, we have to recognize that the fall doesn’t start at the elevator door. It begins with “The Fade,” a process of small, silent compromises that erode our foundation long before the big moment arrives. It starts with the shared secret—the moment you tell a woman who isn’t your wife something about your struggle or your heart that you haven’t told your spouse. By doing that, you are building an emotional safe house outside your home and creating an intimacy that belongs only to your marriage. It continues with the narrative of the “Unappreciated Provider,” a form of pride that whispers that because you work sixty hours a week, you are entitled to a secret corner of life just for you. This is a slow poison that makes us feel like martyrs instead of men of honor. Finally, it thrives in the “Silent Circle,” where we let other men see only the “Expert” version of ourselves. Isolation is the predator’s playground, and without a group of men who can see through your armor, you are an easy target for your own worst impulses.

The Bible doesn’t shy away from the unfinished nature of a man’s heart, warning us in Proverbs 4:23 to keep our hearts with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life. Vigilance isn’t a one-time event that ends with a neat bow; it is a constant, ongoing state of being. Caleb’s story doesn’t end at the elevator because the temptation to cross emotional boundaries is a war of attrition that doesn’t stop after one “victory.” I left the door open because we serve a God who gives us the agency to choose, and that choice is often made in the grit of the moment, far away from the eyes of others.

1 Corinthians 10:13 reminds us that God provides a way out so that we can endure, but we still have to be the ones to take the step back. As you think about how Caleb’s night ended, ask yourself how your own story is unfolding. Are you leaning into the crack of a secret life, or are you doing the hard, masculine work of staying grounded? This is why we need the circle—because a man standing alone is a man who can be convinced that the elevator door is the only way out. The ending to this story is being written by you every single day.

Ditch the performance, cling to the only Truth that lasts, and cultivate a life of purpose.

D. Bryan King

Sources

• John 15: The Vine and the Branches
• Proverbs 4:23: Guarding the Heart
• 1 Corinthians 10:13: The Way of Escape
• Psychology Today: Sliding vs. Deciding in Relationships
• Galatians 5:22-23: The Evidence of Fruit
• Harvard Business Review: The Power of Vulnerability
• James 5:16: The Necessity of Confession
• The Gottman Institute: The Betrayal Tunnel and Emotional Affairs
• 2 Samuel 11: The Anatomy of David’s Fall
• The Atlantic: The Psychological Danger of Male Isolation
• Matthew 7:13-14: The Geometry of the Narrow Gate
• SHRM: Understanding the Moral Licensing Trap for High Achievers
• Job 31:1: The Discipline of the Eyes
• New York Times: The Resentment of the Provider Role
• Ephesians 5:25: Sacrificial Leadership in Marriage
• Psychology Today: The Slow Erosion of Personal Integrity
• Proverbs 27:17: The Iron Sharpens Iron Principle
• Forbes: Why Authenticity Beats the ‘Expert’ Persona
• 1 Peter 5:8: Vigilance in the Shadows
• Focus on the Family: Identifying the Fade of an Emotional Affair
• Psalm 1: Roots vs. Chaff
• Art of Manliness: The Importance of a Small Circle of Men
• Ecclesiastes 4:12: The Strength of the Cord
• The Anatomy of Betrayal and the Cost of Recovery
• Luke 16:10: Integrity in the Small Things
• Scientific American: How We Justify Our Small Transgressions
• Romans 12:2: Resisting the Cultural Mold
• Brené Brown: The Power of Vulnerability (TED Talk)
• Hebrews 12:1: Throwing Off What Hinders
• Healthline: The Dangers of External Emotional Intimacy

Disclaimer:

The views and opinions expressed in this post are solely those of the author. The information provided is based on personal research, experience, and understanding of the subject matter at the time of writing. Readers should consult relevant experts or authorities for specific guidance related to their unique situations.

A quotation from Steinbeck

John Steinbeck (1902-1968) American writer
East of Eden, ch. 34 (1952)

More about this quote: wist.info/steinbeck-john/83944…

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Issue 15: Fiction and Nonfiction

Photo: Self Portrait Reflection in Door Glass by Salie Davis, Issue 15.

Check out these short story excerpts from Issue 15:

FICTION

It worked. I followed the forty-day program exactly, and it worked, just as they said. I could barely sleep last night for the anticipation of it. And sure enough — morning forty-one — I got up and my body stayed in bed.

Look at it now, lying there. If you’ve ever had an out-of-body experience, this is not the same. Even out-of-body, you are fundamentally still in your body. It’s all a head thing. This is different — the real deal.

I think I expected to feel something about it. Elation, maybe. Triumph, joy. Relief. I was even prepared to experience grief. But I feel nothing; I’m not even numb. Just, absence.

My — its — eyes are still closed. … READ MORE >

— Mirjana Villeneuve, “Body”

Tasha’s face looked as though someone had stuffed a plum in it, right where her left eye should’ve been. She examined it in the bathroom mirror beneath the flickering tube light, the cracked tile still morning-cool beneath her bare feet. The room was so cramped she could hardly turn around without falling over the toilet or into the shower, but still she leaned precariously against the sink to get a closer look. Her fingertips glowed white against the purpled skin as they delicately traced the obscenity. Like a ripened fruit, the skin felt taut and, due to the humidity, had the same sense of succulence. If she opened the eye, would tears run out or juice? She could open it — though not all the way. Makeup wasn’t going to cover it. She raked some of her brunette curls down over the side of her face. That could work if she didn’t mind having cycloptic vision for the day. And looking somewhat emo, which at twenty-three she was a little too old for. A plosive sigh parted her lips, making a soft pop in the silence. She pulled her hair high onto her head and fastened it with a black band. She could figure out what to do after she sent Dale on his way. … READ MORE >

— Paul Michael Garrison, “Tasha in South Carolina”

Mama says the world’s a crooked thing, and the tree down by the creek just learned to grow with it. It sits at the edge of Cinder Hollow, bent over the water like it’s tired of keeping its head up. Folks say its roots reach straight into Hell, and maybe that’s true. Nothing green ever grows around it, just the same brittle grass that dies every summer before it has the nerve to bloom.

When I was a child, I thought it was just a tree. Granddad said otherwise.

“That tree remembers,” he’d rasp. “Every limb’s got a ghost hanging off it. The kind that asked for too much bread or too much fairness.”

Then he’d spit into the dirt like he was trying to rid his mouth of the taste of the world. … READ MORE >

— Kyler Littlejohn, “For Those Who Weep”

The hedge formed a nearly complete barrier around Bridget’s quarter-acre lot. Vines and weeds had taken root in its shade and grown up through the thorny branches, completing its ten-foot privacy screen. The only break in the hedge was the gap where a brick path ran from the street sidewalk to the front porch. The gap was so narrow and the hedge so thick, Bridget had to face the gap square on to see anything on the other side.

Bridget knew the people talking on the other side of the hedge couldn’t see her as she poured birdseed into a feeder.

“They’re doing a lot of work on that house,” one voice said. … READ MORE >

— Chelsea Barnwell, “Through the Hedge”

He awoke suddenly in a strange room. But “awoke” is a misleading term; he just came to his senses, realizing that he had been lying there, with his eyes wide open, for a while. He had no idea how long that was, what he was doing here, or where “here” was. There was no sound.
 
How did I get here? he thought. The last thing he remembered was going to bed last night. He tried to turn his head and couldn’t. There weren’t any restrictions — at least he couldn’t feel any — but he simply was unable to move his head. The fact alarmed him, so he tried to move his head with his hands to see whether there was something restricting his movements or not. This attempt did not even get off the ground, as he quickly discovered he couldn’t move his hands either. … READ MORE >

— Jack Denning, “Listen”

You took root so eagerly. Just a seed, so little, so frail. But you latched into the soil with such confidence.

Then you grew. You were pulsing with promise. You were entirely alive. If someone had bent close enough to the ground, hands and knees pressed to the grass, ear turned to the earth, they could have heard you singing, singing with expectation in every note.

Your shell opened, and your tiny head pressed upward towards the sky. You broke through your blanket into the open air. Five blue petals and a slender stem. You were vivid. You were delicate. The morning sun beamed across the world, and you lifted your face up to the light. But you were drooping by night. … READ MORE >

— Leah Johnston, “A Flax Flower”

Every evening, Elias carried a stone home.

He never chose them deliberately. They appeared in his pockets the way regret appears — quietly, without announcement. A smooth grey pebble after he lied to a customer. A jagged one after he ignored the old woman asking for help with her groceries. Once, after turning away his brother at the door, he found both pockets heavy with something that bruised his thighs when he walked.

At first, he laughed it off.

“Stones are nothing,” he said aloud, tossing them into a wooden box beneath his bed.

But the box began to fill. … READ MORE >

— Atif Nawaz, “The Weight of Small Stones”

The Father — the only color in a sea of suburban white. His accent is thick, but his joy and love are clear as day.

Missing the holy water at the entrance announces me as a stranger, but I certainly don’t feel like an intruder.

My eyes track to the red trickling from the life-size Christ above the altar, where the spear separated blood from water.

Idols are everywhere. Not sure if that is the right word for them, but statues and pictures decorate the whole chapel. There are so many, I feel like a kid in a toy shop, looking everywhere, trying my best to find one that I like the most. … READ MORE >

— Jacob W. Surface, “To Avoid an Awkward Family Breakfast, I Escape to Mass for the First Time at St. Mary of the Assumption Catholic Church, Three Oaks, Michigan”

NONFICTION

This is a true story, and I do not want it to be a spoof, but we humor ourselves sometimes to deal with our pesky anxiety. That said, I can’t help giving a nod to the humor writer Dave Barry’s line, “I’m not making this up!” I was fifty years old when I learned I had the ‘big C’, cancer. I found out when I finally went to the doctor to find out about an annoying, not-so-little red and black sore on my upper left arm that itched like crazy and hurt deep in my muscle whenever I scratched it.

My doctor told me it was malignant melanoma, which is one of the fastest spreading cancers. He then informed me that if it had already spread through the rest of my body (he actually smiled when he said this), I’d be dead in a year, and they could do nothing except help with pain. Then he told me he would have to take a sample, a biopsy, of the surrounding flesh to see if it had already metastasized; and, if it had happened, it would be ‘lights out’ for me.

(Er … ah … sniff, snorkel, snort …) “Do you mean me being dead, Doc?” … READ MORE >

— Rexford Chase Nicholson, “The Day the Whale Blew Its Nose in My Face”

The Bible tells you that there’s nothing new under the sun, especially temptation arriving on the scene in Eden. And I learned that again at the gas station, on one relentlessly dull day.

My husband and I had stopped to stretch our legs, have a much-needed coffee, perhaps a snack. A donut laced with lemon icing, perhaps, or cinnamon toast glistening with buttery flavor? More temptations.

Of course, I needed to use the restroom first, and also wash my hands. But there on the gray tiled floor was something glittery, sparkly. Intriguing.

There were no curtains at the small window, only a shabby blind, so it couldn’t be a simple brass curtain ring. No, I thought, it was too shiny, too interesting. It called to me to investigate, to satisfy my insatiable curiosity.

It didn’t disappoint. … READ MORE >

— Wendy Westley, “The temptation”

Portland in February. Supposedly it is a good time of year to visit Oregon, but I might call it bipolar. The weather had that kind of temperament. Indecisive, mercurial. Deceptively sunny, then would hit me sideways with gray rain. On a rainy Thursday, we drove to see the falls near Bridal Veil. The town (it is a town) rests along the south side of the Columbia River, and has nothing but waterfall trails and a post office. The rain there had a fresh mossy scent that provided great relief from the sour rust smell of the wet city. I cupped it in my lungs. It was sharp.

From the parking lot, we could already see Multnomah Falls. The blurry white ribbon unspooled from an abrupt cliff. So many trees, dark and green, crowded the slopes. I said our breath in the cold made us look like dragons. He said it was like we were smoking hookah. … READ MORE >

— Lucy Swan, “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny?”

He came into the room and took the only available seat, which happened to be right next to me. With one hand, he pulled a package of cookies from his jacket pocket, tore it open, then held it out. “Want a cookie?” he asked. “No, thank you,” I said, and that was how we met. It was my first time attending the new church group I had just joined. After we all introduced ourselves, the first discussion question was posed, and the man sitting next to me said, “I think it’s a weak question.” He went on to explain why, and I thought, Here we go. Later, when telling my best friend about the group, I would refer to him as “the abrasive guy.” But toward the end of the night, after we had prayed, he turned to me again and asked what kind of books I wrote. I told him, and I found out he knew about Ursula Le Guin (one of my favorite authors) and that he, too, loved the Pacific Northwest for its vast and varied trees. I thought then that he might be all right.

The past year had been a bad year for me. It had been an especially bad summer. I had been pushed to the edge of wondering if there was any point to our individual lives, if God did in fact have a purpose for each of us. … READ MORE >

— Jessica Lynne Henkle, “You Shall Love the Lord Your God”

READ ISSUE 15:
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WAGING WAR SERIES: LUST (spiritually, physically and mentally)

https://onemomentoflove7.wordpress.com/2026/05/14/waging-war-against-lust/

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Today's poem:

Arbol? Arbol? . .
- by Federico Garcia Lorca

https://www.tumblr.com/ukdamo/816214701681836032/arbol-arbol?source=share

#poetry #FedericoGarciaLorca #seville #cordoba #granada #temptation #agency #olive

Matthew 1:22-23

https://drinkofjesus.com/2026/05/07/matthew-122-23/