“No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to us all. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.”
(1 Corinthians 10:13)
In light of the fact that Corinth was a decadent city with a mixed bag of constituents, Paul is compelled to write 1 Corinthians. His compulsion was based on oral reports and letters he received from believers within the church he had started during his first visit there. His words ring true for us today.
Seeing as God is ever-present (omnipresent) and all-knowing (omniscient), He is intimately aware of each and every temptation that comes our way. 2 Timothy 2:13 speaks clearly regarding our occasional lack of faith when it says: “If we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot disown himself.” God is the constant; we are inconsistent at best. His love and faithfulness towards us never wanes and never dies. I can personally attest to the fact that while a way of escape is always provided from on high, we can and do many times walk right past it, hell-bent on having our own way. The results can be devastating, as I and many others have found out up close and personal. It didn’t and most certainly doesn’t have to be that way. God doesn’t desire for us to get caught in the bear traps life at times presents to us. The closer we become to Him the easier it will be to hear that still small voice* of His Holy Spirit as it guides and directs us through the mine fields of life.
Paul chooses an interesting word when he states that we can ‘endure’ the temptation. Many times the temptation does not go away, but rather stands there right in the midst of you attempting to lure you into sinful behavior. In enduring the temptation we are to carry on, even through potential hardships. It may be a test of your faith. Satan knows our weak points; however, it should go without saying that God is greater and more powerful than the devil ever was or ever could be. There is nothing foreign to our God; nothing He cannot and would not do for us. Our part is to make sure we focus on the Lord and not on our surroundings. When we do that we sink just as Peter did when called upon to walk to Jesus on the Sea of Galilee in Matthew 14:22-32. If we stay close to our Lord, we will be able to discern that which is within the parameters of His will for us in this life.
WALK WITH THE KING TODAY AND BE A BLESSING!
* 1 Kings 19:11-12
NOTE: The evidence of Acts 18:1-8 and 1 Corinthians suggests that the church was in many ways a mirror of the city. The majority of its members were Gentiles, former idolaters, largely of lower socioeconomic status. The heterogeneous mix of Jew, Greek, slave, free, rich, and poor inevitably led to tensions and internal rivalries. We cannot reconstruct the specific Corinthian situation with precision. First Corinthians, an ad hoc (defined: formed, arranged, or done for a particular purpose only) response to serious problems in the church, was probably written in the spring of 54-57 A.D.. Paul's knowledge of the situation depended on oral reports and a letter from the church. [Definition of ‘ad hoc’ added by author]
