A Promise of Escape

“No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and He will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation He will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.” –I Corinthians 10:13 (NEV).

Paul was talking about temptation that came to Christians and how God promises to provide a way of escape. Some translations render this “No trial has overtaken you…” Whether we consider this temptation—enticement toward evil; or trial—tests and difficulties, God promises a means of escape for dealing with the situation.

In James 1:14 we read: “Every man is tempted when he is drawn away by his own lust and enticed.”

Within the context of the selected verse for today’s meditation, Paul wrote of himself” “But I discipline my body, and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified” (I Cor. 9;27). Even a seasoned Christian and minister like Paul feared temptation. But he knew assuredly that God would provide a “way of escape,” so that the Christian need not succumb to sin.

The Greek word for escape was the word used to mean a passageway out of a canyon. It carried the meaning of going too far into a ravine, and thinking the path out was lost; but suddenly one showed itself, maybe one used by animals. And with care, one could escape from the canyon.

Our best escape route, whether we consider our challenge a temptation to sin or a trial very hard to bear, is to stay close to the Lord in our daily walk. We do this by Bible study and prayer and by practicing Christian disciplines.

Rev. J. Wilbur Chapman, a noted minister of another generation, wrote: “Temptation is the tempter looking through the keyhole into the room where you’re living. Sin is you drawing back the bolt and making it possible for him to enter.” Similar to the quotation by Rev. Chapman is this one by an anonymous observer: “When Satan knocks at the door of my heart, I ask Jesus to answer the door.” The obvious escape is not to draw back the bolt when the tempter wants to enter your life. God wants to “deliver us from evil,” as we pray in the Lord’s Prayer.

He has promised to provide us with a way of escape. Our responsibility is to find the route He provides. He will definitely be on it with us.