No temptation has so far seized you except as a human one; now God is faithful and will not allow you to be tempted beyond your strength, but with the temptation he will also give you the way out, so that you may endure it. (1 Corinthians 10:13)
We are all tempted, and none of our temptations are truly unique; what we go through are human temptations.
Others before you have found strength in Jesus Christ to overcome the same temptation you experience, or even worse.
Therefore, you can be victorious, but with Jesus’ strength, not your own strength.
We fight temptation with the strength of Jesus, like the girl who explained what she did when Satan came to the door of her heart with temptation: “I send Jesus to open the door. When Satan sees Jesus, he says, ‘Oops, sorry, I must have the wrong house.’”
The truth is that God is faithful and has promised to oversee all temptations, whether they come to us from the world, the flesh or the devil. God promises to limit temptation according to our ability to endure it — according to our ability when we rely on Him, not our ability when we rely only on ourselves.
Satan would destroy us in an instant if God allowed him to do so, just as he wanted to destroy Job (Job 1:6-12) and Peter (Luke 22:31), but God will not allow him to do so. God faithfully oversees what happens to His children, and although we may face severe difficulties, in Him we have the power to persevere.
God has promised to limit our temptation and provide a way out in times of temptation. He will never force His children to use the way out, but He will make it available. It is up to us to take God’s way out.
One commentator noted that in the original language, the word for a way out gives the idea of a pass, where one finds an army surrounded by the enemy, suddenly seeing an escape route to safety. Like a pass, the way out is not necessarily an easy way, but it is available.
At a market, a young boy stopped next to a candy display with the air of wanting to take some without paying. A clerk observing the boy finally said to him, “It looks like you are trying to get some candy.” The boy replied, “Sir. I’m trying not to take any.”
All the while, the boy was able to withstand temptation.
In Christ, so can you.
(#enduring word)
