God's Escape Hatch

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Does anyone else feel like there's just too much going on? I saw a video of a man saying—well, screaming—that exact sentiment from his car. Life just has so much happening at any given time, and it can feel like there is just no way to keep up with everything. Part of this comes down to our inability to say no to things. We've created such a culture that looks down on people who aren't overworked that we assume being busy absolutely all the time is what is most honoring to God. This ignores the fourth commandment that explicitly commands rest, but that's another sermon. 

Perhaps another possibility for this crazy sense of busyness might be because there is a misquoting (and understanding) of the verse that we are looking at here this morning. I've heard this verse in many conversations over the years saying, "God doesn't give you more than you can handle." This idea that God doesn't overload us can give us permission (or threat) to just keep going with whatever life throws our way. Since God doesn't overload us, then whatever is on our plate must stay on our plate. Since God doesn't give me more than I can handle, then there is no need to ask for help. 

As we will see, today, that is not what that verse means—or even says. There is no verse that says that God won't give you more than you can handle. In fact, there is Biblical evidence to show the opposite! One scholar points to 2 Corinthians 1:8-9 "For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death." But then take a look at the rest of the verse:"But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead." (Eric Bargerhuff). Do you see the point being made here? God gives you more than you can handle all the time! The very point in doing so is so that you see your true weakness and look to God for help. That is reality! So where do we get this idea from? Well, that likely is coming from 1 Cor. 10:13, which we look at now. 

What God does say in that verse is that He is not going to allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able (again, with His help) to escape. That is what we are going to be looking at today as we contemplate our two points today: The danger of falling into temptation is real and Dependance on God and avoidance of sin is required.

The danger of falling into temptation is real

As we went over when we did this series back in the summer, a big part of misunderstanding what a verse means comes down to not looking at the context of the verse. Context shapes meaning. If I say the word "blinker" as an auto mechanic, you will assume I am talking about a car. If I say that same word as an eye doctor, you are probably going to assume I am talking about someone's eyes. That is just one word! How much more important in Scripture that when we see a verse, we need to read the verses (and preferably chapters) surround the verse to understand what it means. 

This verse is part of a much larger discussion in 1 Corinthians. This book was actually a letter written to the church at Corinth, and they had a problem with looking like the world around them. Relatable, eh? They have been told that they have been set free from their sins, but they are now assuming that they can flirt with those old sins. We can see what some of those might be by looking to the surrounding verses. One particular sin that is mentioned twice in this context is idolatry (verses 7 and 14), bowing down to statues as a show of allegiance to false gods. Now, the Corinthian Christians know that there is only one God. They know that those statues are false gods, so the thought is, "Well, it will make my business go much better to be seen at the false god temple. So what if I bend towards a statue? I don't really believe this stuff. It's just a rock. What's the real harm? My sins have all been forgiven in Christ." 

What Paul is saying to the Corinthians and us is that we are susceptible to temptation. In the early part of this chapter, Paul lays out some examples from history where Israel thought of herself as strong against temptation, but they fell into it embarrassingly quickly. Paul alludes to Israel fresh out of Egypt, having seen miracles, having eaten of the same heavenly bread, and drinking out of a rock in the middle of the desert, and yet, AND YET, even after hearing from God audibly on the mountain, the moment Moses turns his back, they set up a golden calf. Paul's point then is that if they can fall into temptation having seen all that they have, then surely we are all the more susceptible to temptation. This means we shouldn't get close to it. 

We've all seen those videos of people who handle wild animals for zoos and shows suddenly get attacked. They may have been with those animals for years, but suddenly, one day, the animal decides that it has had enough, and with one bite, their handler's lives change or end. I saw one where a animal handler was feeding an alligator when it bit down on her hand. A bystander saw what was happening, entered the alligator enclosure, jumped onto its back, looked at the keeper and then said, "Now, what?" That, too often, is how we deal with sin. We've kept it in its little cage assuming that it wasn't going to actually affect our lives, until one day, it bit. I've seen a number of marriages break up in just that way. One party thought they could keep a habit off to the side, but it didn't stay there. And if we think that we are beyond such temptation, that is exactly where we are the most vulnerable. A soldier is most in danger when he thinks he's in safe territory when he is not. 

Dependance on God and avoidance of sin is required.

Now, all of this sounds very depressing, so far. What we have covered is that there are plenty of people, including the people who literally saw God work in some of the most miraculous ways, who thought that they could resist temptation, didn't. Therefore, we must be careful. But sin seems all but inevitable. Aren't we all just heading for some sort of blow up eventually? 

No, and that is exactly what 1 Corinthians 10:13 is telling us. It turns out that God does not allow us to be tempted beyond what we are able to resist IF we use the resources that God gives us to escape them. This is not saying that resisting temptation will be effortless or even easy. This IS saying that resisting temptation is possible with God. God will provide the way of escape, but YOU have to take it. And in many cases when it comes to sin, we just don't take it.

So what are those resources? Well, the first is dependance on God, and the second is fleeing the temptation itself. 

When we say depending on God, I don't mean throwing yourself into a bad situation and hope that God simply stops you from following through. In fact, depending on God often looks like being obedient to Him before temptation strikes. It is worth noting that God is giving you the way of escape often well before temptation takes place. As one commentator pointed out, one of the best defenses against sin is memorized Scripture (Eric Bargerhuff). After all, that is how Jesus modeled resisting temptation from Satan, didn't He? Every time Satan lobbed a temptation, how did Jesus respond? Did He give logical reasons for why He shouldn't follow through on Satan's request? No, He simply responded with what God has to say on the matter. It is already set out! Are you memorizing Scripture? You likely know what your weaknesses are in your life, have you memorized verses that speak to those things? If not, you are probably leaving your way of escape on the table. 

We expect this of sports players, don't we? We would think it very foolish if we saw players come onto a field expecting to be good having put no physical effort in beforehand. We would think it very strange for a ballerina to wait until the day of the recital to start learning the choreography. We roll our eyes at students who try to study for the final exam on the bus on the way to school having slept through the class all year. But that is exactly how we often approach temptation. We know what we are like. We know what we struggle with. But we wait until the temptation is well upon us, then we quick try to pray or try to remember something, but with nothing to reach for, we succumb with little struggle if at all. Depending on God means depending on the resources that He provides you right now, BEFORE temptation crosses your path. 

The second tool that God gives you to fight temptation is to simply avoid it! As the old joke goes, "Doctor, I broke my arm in two places!" "Well, then, stay out of those places!" If you find yourself yielding to temptation while doing a certain thing, then, in the words of Bob Newhart, "Stop it!" This can be very practical. Are you more susceptible to anger when you are tired? Then go to bed earlier for the sake of your soul! Do you find yourself using your phone in ways you shouldn't when you are alone? Don't be alone with your phone. Or better yet, get a phone that doesn't allow for that kind of temptation to pop up in the first place. The way of escape is often far more practical than we think. We don't need to pray down a miracle to keep us from saying mean things on Facebook, we just need to deactivate Facebook. The Christian life doesn't have to be that hard! You don't need to fight your sin on your own, tell someone else about your struggle and be accountable to them. "That sounds scary! I would be ashamed to have to tell someone if I fail," Exactly! Sounds like a solid strategy. God works through means, so don't be afraid to use them. 

I promise you, if you are taking radical steps to ensure that you don't sin, are memorizing Bible verses to use in your spiritual fight, praying for the Lord to bring these things to mind in the midst of temptation, and enlist others in the fight against sin, guess what you are going to do? You are going to grow so much you will want to keep doing all of these things! You will be living as a Christian. And you will succumb to temptation less. No one is ever going to be perfect in this world as verse 12 reminds us. But God has not sent us out into a battlefield with nothing to fight with. He has sent the Holy Spirit to live within us to begin to change our desires. He has written His Word with specific guidance on how to live as Christians. He moves us in prayer. And He has given us plain old common sense. Use it all to resist temptation. 

So what is our takeaway from all of this? One, God will absolutely give you more than you can handle so you learn to stop trying to handle it yourself. God will give you opportunities to do far more good things than you can possibly do. All of that will teach you that you're not the Messiah and you need to take a rest like He told you. God is going to give you kids that are well beyond your current patience level to force you to come to God in prayer every morning asking for fresh energy. There will also be times that you will call out in prayer for something that you think you need, and He will say no to show you that you actually don’t need that thing and He’s not a vending machine. God will allow you access to someone at work or on the internet to make you choose between Him and your job or Him and the internet. And if you use the tools that I mentioned earlier, the disciplines of the Christian life humbly relying on God to make them work, you will find the way of escape. 

Two, take temptation seriously. Prepare for it, and be practical about it. To save money from being thoughtlessly spent, you put it in the savings account. You don’t try to develop better discipline and memory of what you wanted to save, you just move it into the savings account. Done! Treat your propensity to sin with equal practicality.