When faced with temptation many flee in fear of being overcome without a plan of action. Saint John of Ávila offers clear spiritual guidance, showing how we can resist temptation with confidence by placing our trust in Jesus, who alone gives us strength to overcome.
Let the Captains Speak
“Father, we’re already in this war, and we cannot flee it: tell me, what will we do?”
Let them speak, let the captains speak. Saint Peter says: Brothers, be sober, etc. “Brothers,” says the prince of the apostles, be temperate. He has much reason, certainly. What evils does this eating cause! How many does the enemy knock down! He makes them fill themselves up to the brim, and he goes about laughing at them, and he sends another worse than him, and he says, “What I leave to you! Go and tempt him as you will, for he’s good and ready for everything that you want him to do.” With this sin, the demon knocked down our first mother Eve, and with this [sin] he tempted Our Lord Jesus Christ today, saying to Him: Make these stones turn into bread.
Stay Vigilant Against the Enemy
Further, Saint Peter says: Be vigilant. We should spend the better part of the night keeping vigil and praying to God to free us from this enemy and to give us strength to cast all evil from us, since our enemy does not sleep, rather, he is always keeping vigil for us, until we reveal a little chink through which he can hurt us and inflict his temptations upon us. And thus Job says of him that he is not content with swallowing the rivers over there, but rather that he hopes to swallow and suck up the river Jordan. He is not content with making careless men fall, but he rather procures and wants to make fall, by his arts, those who are prosperous in the service of Our Lord and who bear His happy and delightful current through the meadows of contemplation and of taste for God and for His sacred Scripture.
Curates, prelates, look and be vigilant; beware, for the demon knows that the good of others hangs upon you and your example. He labors greatly to knock you down, and he turns the greatest force of his deceits against you, since, by knocking you down, he knocks down many others with you. Doesn’t it say over there that all the force of battle was turned against Saul? Because, the captain being defeated, he upon whom all have their eyes, they, then, are dismayed. And because of this, the fall of such ones is more striven for and desired by the demon than that of other men, because the latter does not go so far. And you don’t have to be frightened or cowardly about waging war against him, since it is certain that the day that you made peace with the Lord, on that same [day], you made war against the devil. If the demon is strong to conquer and deceive you stronger and wiser is God to defend and aid you. God will aid you more than that one will tempt you.
Roaring, he wanders about, says Saint Peter, seeking whom to swallow. Resist, strong in faith. Blessed is he who understands this word, and blessed he who, in his heart, has living faith, which keeps him secure among temptations, and strong in labors, secure and meek in the whirlwinds and changes of this age. Keep your memory fixed on and your confidence in the Cross of Jesus Christ, from which the demons flee and go away frightened, and they do not dare to appear before it. Look to Saint Anthony, to what defense he had when amidst all the infernal powers, that is, living faith in Jesus Christ and the Sign of the Cross, from which they went away, fleeing, for they could not stand before it.
There are some foolish men who, from pure fear, do not dare to go off alone to pray a little. Tell me, what can he do to you? Is not God present there as well as him? What can he do to you in the presence of the Lord, Your helper and guard being there? Go off alone, brother, without fear, and commend yourself to God, pray your devotions, bear living faith, for God goes with you, and He is wherever you are, so neither the demon, nor all of hell, can assail you or do evil against you without His consent.
“Oh Father! How very evil and sinful am I, and he torments me with such evil thoughts, and he makes me believe that God will not pardon me. What shall I do?”
Place Your Trust in Jesus Christ
You should trust in Jesus Christ and have living faith which will not forsake you, for the demon does not wander about for any other reason except that of making you despair, aggravating you with your sins, setting them before you so that you would lose faith and hope in the Lord. And so he says, Raze it unto my foundation, because this foundation is He who keeps us all on our feet in labors and makes us strong in tribulations, and without Him, we cannot build anything that is good. And by this road and way, the demon enters into temptations in order to knock you down and conquer you, in such a way that, bringing temptations of pride upon you, he might humble you, and, with those of luxury, he might make you more chaste, and with those of wrath, meeker.
“Father, it is very hard, and it torments me.” Don’t say that; instead, tell the Lord, deep from your heart: “Lord, if Your Majesty is served by my being in this labor and tribulation for a thousand years, which, for my good, you have sent to me, I will be very content with this, and with all that You want to send to me, since I know that You love me and that You will not send me anything that is not for Your honor and my profit.”
Be strong, brother, during the time you are in this world, in fighting manfully against the demons and their traps. And if you act thusly, not only will the angels come to serve and console you, but Jesus Christ Himself will come, and console you, and strengthen and embrace you, and give you grace for this conquering, and later, His glory, to which may He lead us.
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This article is taken from a chapter in My Burden Is Light by Saint John of Ávila which is available from TAN Books.
