1 Cor. 10:13
There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God
is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able;
but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be
able to bear it.
In reading this familiar scripture verse above, did you ever stop to consider
what God's provision of escape teaches us about His character? God opens
escape routes to show us how much He cares! In a culture filled with moral
depravity and pressures, the apostle Paul gave strong encouragement to
the Corinthians about temptation. He said:
1. Wrong desires and temptations come upon everyone.
2. Others have resisted temptation, and so can you.
3. Any temptation can be resisted because God will help you resist it.
Ladies, when you are faced with temptation, the first thing you need to
focus on is the faithfulness of God, not the fear of falling into the
same trap again. He cares about YOU! He makes a way for YOU to escape
YOUR personal temptations. God will help you resist temptation by training
you to recognize those people and situations that give you trouble. He
will help remind you to run from anything you know is wrong. He will help
you to choose to do only what is right. Have you learned how much the
Lord cares for you yet, dear lady? If you've looked temptation square
in the eye you have! Through these difficult struggles, God teaches us
to ask for His help. He teaches us to mistrust ourselves and trust Him...
He also teaches us to seek fellowship and friendship with those who love
the Lord and can offer their help when we are tempted.
Exodus 14:13, "And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still,
and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will shew to you to day: for
the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more
for ever."
God opens escape routes to show us His power. With the Egyptians chasing
after them, the children of Israel had become hostile and despairing,
but Moses encouraged them to watch the wonderful way God would rescue
them. Moses had a positive attitude... Was it simply because he was born
that way?? No, it was because he was focused on the faithfulness of God!
When it looked as if they were trapped, Moses automatically called upon
God to intervene. Ladies, while we may not be chased by an army as was
the case here, we may still feel similarly trapped and overly anxious.
Human instinct is to react hastily and remove ourselves out of a tight
spot. However, the Lord would have us to wait
for His orders. Instead of giving in to despair, we should adopt Moses'
attitude to "stand still and see the salvation of the Lord." There was
no apparent way of escape, but the Lord opened up a dry path through the
sea. Sometimes we find ourselves caught in a particular problem and see
no possible way out of it. Don't panic; remember God's power and compose
yourself... He will open up a way of escape for you! The question is,
do you trust God enough to give Him time to make you a way of escape??
Jonah 1:3, "But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence
of the Lord, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish:
so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto
Tarshish from the presence of the Lord."
When we don't trust God as we should, we will naturally run from Him!
Sounds crazy, doesn't it? But it's true... Trying to escape God makes
things worse!
Jonah knew that God had a specific route for him to take, but he didn't
want to take it. Nineveh was toward the east but Jonah decided to go as
far west as he could. Ladies, when God gives us directions through His
Word, sometimes we run in fear or in stubbornness, claiming that God is
asking us to face too much. We all know running got Jonah into worse trouble.
In the end, Jonah understood that it is best to take the direction the
Lord points out in the first place because we can never escape God! Unfortunately,
by then he had paid a costly price for running from Him... It is far better
to obey from the start, amen? From Jonah we learn then that there are
times when the possibility for escape should be refused.
Isaiah 16:12, "And it shall come to pass, when it is seen that Moab is
weary on the high place, that he shall come to his sanctuary to pray;
but he shall not prevail."
Our own means of escape usually fail. When the people of Moab experienced
God's wrath, they sought their own idols and gods. Nothing happened, however,
because there was no one really there to save them! False gods are unable
to help; they were "weary on the high place", the Bible says. So too,
when we seek our own ways of escape in order to get through our daily
troubles, the effect is the same: no pleasure, no pastime, or man-made
religious idea will save us. There is just one escape route that will
lead us toward an abundant life and God has the directions! Only a fool
would refuse to take it... In running from the trials and temptations
that arise in your life, what means of escape have you been seeking
out - sleep, television, romance novels, food, shopping, anti-depressants,
internet affair, alcohol...? Those are the wrong routes to take, dear
lady!! Our hope lies in our heavenly Father, the only true God who can
hear, who cares deeply for us, and has a wealth of power available to
help us bear our struggles.
God Bless,
Pam
Isaiah 60:1&2
Copyright 2001 Pamela A. Iannello
