Day 7 - Week 39 - 1 Corinthians 10:13 "No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to humanity. God is faithful and He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation He will also provide a way of escape, so that you are able to bear it."

"God will provide a way of escape, so that you are able to bear it."

Temptations / Trials....do you view them differently?

Some time back this thought occurred to me:

• Satan tempts us with opportunities to sin, to rebel against God, causing a separation between us and God.
• God allows trials in our lives to give us opportunities to seek Him, to ask for His guidance and help, causing a deeper relationship between us and God.

James 1:13 tells us, "When tempted, no one should say, "God is tempting me." For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone."

Interestingly, the Greek word translated as tempted above carries with it dual meanings....

To try, make trial of, test: for the purpose of ascertaining his quantity, or what he thinks, or how he will behave himself in a good sense

In a bad sense, to test one maliciously, craftily to put to the proof his feelings or judgments

So, using the first definition, we could say that God temps us with opportunities to show good behavior, to seek Him, and to show our faithfulness to Him (see Genesis 22:1 where the KJV says that God tempted Abraham, while the NIV has chosen to translate as God tested Abraham).

Satan is the malicious tester, throwing opportunities at us aimed at our weaknesses, attempting to draw out of us our poor judgment and causing us to stumble into the pit of sin and separation.

God's trials are always filled with purpose for us.  They grow us and bring us into deeper relationship with Him.  But sometimes God will allow those trials to bear down on us until we are forced to admit to Him that we are powerless without His supernatural strength to bear up.  Just as Paul admitted in 2 Corinthians 1:8-10,

We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life.  Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us...

So whether a trial allowed by God, or a temptation thrown at us by Satan, we can bear up when we rely on our Father and look to Him for our sustenance.  In the middle of the trial, seek God and know that He is near, working everything to good on your behalf.  In the face of temptation, look for the light of God's escape, peeking through the chasm of the canyon that you have been entrapped in and squeeze your way out!

Both trials and temptations now can be viewed as opportunities for growth and, when we victoriously handle them, as ways to please our Father and show our faithfulness to Him.  Don't you know that, as only a Southern girl can state it, just "bugs the tar out of Satan" when we foil his rotten plans for our failure!

God is faithful and He is good - never doubt it - no matter where you are or what you are facing!