Called by the sirens and followed by an albatross.

God also puts His people in the middle of things for the same reason that He put the tree of temptation in the middle of the garden--so that our choice to follow Him would be a conscious, daily one. Every time we publicly choose to live for Christ, He is glorified.

The Devil is vicious, but he's not victorious.

Don't allow the unrealistic demands of others to march freely into your life.

God won't give you more than you can handle." But that's not actually in the Bible. God does say He won't allow us to be tempted beyond what we can bear and that He always provides a way out (1 Corinthians 10:13). But that's not the same as God not giving us more than we can handle. He sometimes will allow more and more and more.

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. (James 1:2—4)

Maybe you've been entrusted with this. Not cursed with it.

I needed a go-to script for this situation. So, I lowered my head and prayed, "God, I am at the end of my strength here. This is the moment I've got to sense Your strength stepping in. The Bible says Your power is made perfect in weakness. This would be a really good time for that truth to be my reality. Help me see something else besides this temptation looming so large in front of me it seems impossible to escape.

Honestly, I am made for more than a vicious cycle of eating, gaining, stressing — eating, gaining, stressing … I am made to rise up, do battle with my issues and, using the Lord's strength in me, defeat them—spiritually, physically, and mentally—to the glory of God.

Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour" (1 Peter 5:8).

And we don't allow their choices to harm us and start drawing our heart into places of compromise, devastation, or deception. Again, we all need grace when we mess up. But we also need the awareness that there is a difference between an occasional slip in behavior and an ongoing pattern of behavior.

It's tough being a sold-out soul for Christ stuck in a body that's so tempted to sin. That's why it's essential that I view my time with God each morning as a preparation and an invitation.