Stumbling Blocks

.... a circumstance or moment that causes difficulty or hesitation.

... hurdle, barrier, bar, hindrance, impediment, handicap, disadvantage, restriction, limitation My kind of temptation - stumbling blocks Words that are all different but have the same basic meaning - something that causes difficulty. It makes me think of chocolate or cookies or Frozen Yogurt or any kind of sweet thing for that matter. When I am not supposed to have something sweet, it constantly feels like the world is tempting me with its delicious sweet things and it is so difficult to resist. How do you keep yourself from stumbling over that block? How do you keep yourself from giving into temptation? The word of God says the following:

Matthew 4:1-11 (NIV)

4 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted^[a] by the devil. ² After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. ³ The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”

⁴ Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’^[b]”
⁵ Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. ⁶ “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written:

“‘He will command his angels concerning you,
and they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’^[c]”

⁷ Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’^[d]”

⁸ Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. ⁹ “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”
¹⁰ Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.’^[e]”
¹¹ Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended Him

It seems to me that the result Jesus got at the end was greater than what the devil promised Jesus. "Angels came and attended Him" - that sounds amazing.

My thoughts around "stumbling blocks" is that it happens to everyone of us. I remember myself stumbling many times as a little girl and I would always cry when I fall - because it hurts to fall... but that is how we learn. My name starts with a "T" and my mother said that I should use this first letter of my name to serve as a reminder to think of a "Trappie" ("step" or "stepping stone" in English) for stumbling blocks/ temptations etc which helps me to learn.

She, my mother, said: "Jy klim die trappies en soms gly en dan val jy. Dit is seer, maar jy staan weer op en probeer weer en die volgende keer onthou jy van die trappie wat jou laat val het en jy klim oor hom om bo uit te kom" - Afrikaans

English translation: "You climb the steps (stairs) and sometimes you slip and fall. It hurts, but you get up again and the next time you remember the step that made you fall and you step over it to get to the top."

"the top" is the result, it is the goal that you want to reach. In order to get to the top we have to start at the bottom and climb up the stairs. It is not impossible to get to the top and a long the way we learn. If temptation can be resisted like Jesus resisted and if you can step over a stumbling block, I bet the result will be so much sweeter.
It is not impossible to do but as humans it is unfortunately how we learn - the hard way... and when we get to the top the result is also very much enjoyable.

Sandra Bullock said: "Falling or stumbling is something we do daily."
Mahalia Jackson said: "The old devil gets mad when you're trying to do good. Pray that God will move the stumbling blocks."
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/stumbling.html#IIDy2AJr4uBxwJWQ.99


Don't stop climbing and if you fall, get up, get a band aid and continue climbing ;-)
T.