God is Faithful {1 Corinthians 10:1 - 12:31}
12:30 AM
Tuesday,
November 13, 2018
I
bet most of us here like the phrase “Love Conquers All”. But what happens when we face something
difficult? What seems to be our first
question? “Why?” I mean, anything from the faucet leaking to
discovering someone we love has a terminal disease – we seem to want to know why. Or perhaps it’s not that something has
happened, or someone has done something against us, but rather, we have had an
opportunity - to take advantage of
a situation or someone. Perhaps it’s
just that change sitting in the grocery store checkout that someone left
behind. Or maybe it’s the money you are
counting from the job you have and you slip a twenty into your pocket.
When
I read 1 Corinthians 10:13, I can breathe a sigh of relief. There is nothing I have done or will do that
someone else has not been faced with. No
one! Throughout history!
As
I prepared for this post I learned that the word translated “temptation” in the
King James Version actually has a broader sense than our English word “temptation”
usually carries. By temptation we
generally mean “being tempted to sin.”
In the Greek, however, the meaning is bigger. It does include the idea of being “tempted to
sin.” But it also includes the idea of “time
of trial” or “time of testing”. The word
is peirasmos. It is the same Greek word used in 1 Peter
4:12-13.
First, Paul tells us that there is no trial that we may go through that is “no
different from what others experience.”
There are times when we feel that no one can possibly understand what we
are going through. We even feel that we
may not be able to make it because we are having to endure what no one else has
had to endure.
But
God is telling us, “I know that what you are going through is very hard. I know that it may seem unbearable. But you need to realize that others have gone
through very similar trials. I enabled
them to get through it. I will get you
through it too!”
I
know I have had moments when life has seemed so tough that I can barely make it
through another moment without my chest feeling like it’s going to cave in or
the tears will not stop coming, but it always seems to happen that someone
comes along and lays a hand on my shoulder and reminds me that they
understand. They know that these times
for me are tough, but God was with them during a difficult time and He will be
with me as well.
Secondly,
God assures us in this verse that He will not allow us to be tested beyond what
we can stand.
I
can tell you that I have often felt at the end of my rope, that I cannot endure
any more. But it’s amazing, God knows me
so well - “God is faithful”, He knows me better than anyone else, even better
than I know myself. He knows how much I
can bear. He knows exactly which “straw
would break the camel’s back.” And He
promises that He will never allow that much testing to come my way.
When
we are tempted to cry out, “Oh God, I can’t take anymore!” He gently reminds us of these words, “He will keep the temptation from becoming
so strong that you can’t stand up against it.”
Third,
God promises that “He will show you a way out so that you will not give in to
it.”
There
have been so many times of trial where it seems there is absolutely no way
out. It’s as if I’ve been pushed into a
room with no windows and no doors. I can’t
see any hope of getting out. But it’s
been in those times that God says, “I will make a way to escape”. And at just the right time, in just the right
way. He always opens a door!
We
seem to forget how limited our vision is when we are staring at our horrible
circumstances in the face. It’s not easy
to remember that we have a Father who is bigger than any horrible circumstance
could ever be. It is during these times
when we must force our gaze away from the circumstances and onto God.
“Most of us tend to gaze at our circumstances
and glance at God now and then. We need
to reverse that. We need to gaze upon
God and glance at our circumstances.” ~
Peter Lord
It
is during times like these when we must cling to His promises and know that
however bleak the circumstances might be, He will always see us through!
Just
look back at history when Winston Churchill was able to lead Britain through their
darkest hour during the Nazi invasion in World War II. All hope seemed to be lost, but he refused to
allow them to give up. Eventually God
gave them victory over the Nazi’s.
Later,
Churchill was invited to give a speech at a boy’s school which he attended as a
boy. When it was time for him to speak,
he walked up to the podium and spoke these words, slowly and with great
emphasis, “Boys, never give up… Never give up… Never… Never…Never… Never.” And he sat down.
I
hope you all read the devotional for today’s reading. “The best escape is love. When we love Christ above all else, when He
is the greatest desire of our lives and the One we want most to please, it
becomes so much easier to say not to sin.”
And
the recommendation at the end of the devotional is something I tell so many
people – Spend time in thanksgiving! God
is faithful!
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