One Friday evening, while Ana was walking home after a stop at the corner shop, her phone rang and she checked to know who it was. It was a new member of the church, Jerome, who recently moved from another city with his family. Jerome was also known as a pastor, a very charismatic and eloquent preacher. He had recently had a birthday celebration and Ana was one invitee to the party. Ana was a dedicated member of the church and lived in the same neighbourhood.
At first, she wondered what might be the purpose of the call. Then Jerome asked what her plans were for that evening, inviting her for dinner to their house. At first she was a bit taken aback and while she thought of what answer to give, Jerome mentioned his wife had travelled and he was home alone. It sounded as though he was relieved his wife was away and felt free from her control. That was a red flag for Ana. Questions came through her mind. Why should she go for a visit now? What will she say took her there? Is it ok to visit a married man as a single waiting sister? More so, Jerome was a married man.
So many questions came to mind, and she felt there was something not right. She rang another friend of hers and narrated the situation to that friend who agreed with her it wasn’t good to visit.
So many times as single sisters we go through such kinds of pressures. Sometimes we make wrong decisions and fall into traps like this. People are easy and ready to judge us before the action. To call you the husband snatcher or the one tempting Jerome. Most times, people may not ask about the genesis. Ana went through some emotional torment that evening. If she reported to the leaders of the church, will they believe her? Will they say she is taking things too seriously or misjudging Jerome? She refused to report him and she did not honour the invitation.
You may have found yourself in such a situation before, or even worse. One scripture that kept Ana was in 1 Thessalonians 5 vs 22. Flee from every appearance of evil. It doesn’t have to be evil, as long as it looks like it. Flee. On another occasion, Mathew, one of Ana’s colleagues, invited her to play lawn tennis with him for a few hours and wanted it frequently, if possible. Again Ana felt that red flag but stylishly declined. In her heart, she wondered why Matt wouldn’t play tennis with his wife instead. Why should she be bonding with Matt? She had learnt not to encourage any appearance of evil. After all, if she were married, she wouldn’t appreciate her husband doing such with another lad.
What is the message here? Flee every appearance of evil. God sees and is aware of what we do. There is a great cloud of witnesses watching you. Choose to be on God’s side always and no matter the temptation, flee from every appearance of evil. God bless you.