READING: Psalms 123-125, 1 Corinthians 10:1-18
“He will also provide a way of escape so that you are able to bear it.”
1 Corinthians 10:13
It’s easy to look at our recurrent failures in temptation and determine that temptation is just too strong for us to live in victory. We know what’s right, but too often choose another path. What starts out as a basic struggle becomes an ongoing battle, which then becomes an apparent stronghold of sin. Strongholds are often private issues, and they can so secretly haunt us that we come to believe that ultimate victory is not possible. Discouragement then leads to only more defeat.
Paul, though, gave the Corinthians—and us—more hope than that. Having warned them against overconfidence (“whoever thinks he stands must be careful not to fall” [1 Cor. 10:12]), he then gave them this good word: “God is faithful, and He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation He will also provide a way of escape so that you are able to bear it” (1 Cor. 10:13). The Corinthians needed to know that they were never alone in a temptation or a trial; instead, the God who had always been with His people would be with them regardless of what they faced. Indeed, He would put limits on the temptations, and He would be faithful to them even when they weren’t always faithful to Him. Even when He did not remove the temptation, He would grant them the power they needed to overcome it. In fact, He would provide a way out of the temptation so that they need not succumb to it.
Always, the most efficient and effective way to overcome temptation is to flee it (thus, Paul told the Corinthians to flee from idolatry in 1 Cor. 10:14). God gives us enough wisdom to know that if we run in the opposite direction of the temptation, we’re much less likely to give in to it. That might mean that we simply avoid any situation or person that tends to lead us in the wrong direction. In some cases, though, we’re so attracted to the sin that we need the help of other believers who hold us accountable to walk righteously. They pray for us, watch out for us, and are unafraid to ask hard questions of us. They’re “in your face” Christian friends who push us away from the temptations that haunt us. In all cases, God gives us His Word, including today’s reading from 1 Corinthians 10, to strengthen us.
So, you have a way out when you face temptation today. Disobedience is not the only option you have.
ACTION STEPS:
- Enlist some Christian friends who can walk with you in your sin battles.
- Believe the Word today when temptation comes: God will provide you a way of escape.
PRAYER: “God, I praise You for guiding me through temptation. Help me to turn to You with every temptation—and do it before I fall.”
TOMORROW’S READING: Psalms 126-128, 1 Corinthians 10:19-33