I first remember learning about temptation on a visit to my great-grandmother's house when I was about four years old. My little brother and I wandered into her basement while the adults were busy talking. Now my great-grandmother raised chickens and sold the eggs and what first caught my eye in that darkened room was a towering stack of open egg crates. As I gazed in awe at the hundreds of gleaming white eggs nestled in them, I gave into the urge to pick one up. It was smooth and warm in my hand. I looked around. A pristine block wall across the room beckoned me. I don't know why I had the urge to throw that egg, but the thought had no sooner entered my little head than the egg was winging it's way through the air. The splat on the wall was apparently very satisfying because I picked up another one and threw that too. My two-year-old brother joined in. Soon we were happily smacking eggs against the wall until at last the adults noticed we were missing and came searching.
Unfortunately, I don't have to be four years old to give into temptation. It's a human trait that all of us carry and one I find particularly annoying. How many times have I given in to the trappings of sin and hurt a loved one? How often have I thought no one would know if I did such-and-such and then lived to regret it? When was the last time I gave in to a sinful thought and dwelt on it, allowing it to bloom and take root? Hah! How about five minutes ago? And I've only been out of bed for an hour! I used to think that as a sinful being, I was just going to sin and couldn't really help it. And yet, God's Word says differently. (See 1 Corinthians 10:13 above.)
No temptation has seized you except what is common to man: All the temptations I've ever experienced or will ever experience are what others have already gone through. I will have no temptations that are somehow 'super-human' and impossible to resist.
And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear: God knows my own personal limitations. He knows what I am capable of resisting and what would be way over my "resistance limit". I find this immensely comforting. He, not Satan, is in charge of what temptations are allowed to come my way.
But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it: Whoa, what a promise! No matter what I am tempted with, God provides me with the strength to resist, the capability to find a different path.
Now having said all this, I am not implying that I as a sinful being will resist all temptations that come my way. I simply won't because I have been born with a sinful nature. And that is where my desperate need of a Savior comes in. I need Someone to forgive me and to love me anyway, despite the number of times I ignore His "way out" of a temptation and decide to give in to sin once again.
Precious Father in heaven, I pray for strength to resist the temptations that will come my way today. Thank you for the patience You have shown me over and over in the past, for the number of times You have helped me to find a way out of my sin, and for all the times You forgive me when I mess up.
Janine Miller
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