No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.
1 Corinthians 10:13
I’ve been thinking about this verse a lot lately and I wanted to share some of my thoughts. If you grew up in a church, you are probably pretty familiar with this verse. To start I’d like to clarify something I heard about this verse growing up. I’ve heard people use this verse to say that God will never give you more than you can handle, referring to suffering. Suffering and temptation are two different things. Sometimes God will give you more suffering than you can handle, that’s kind of the point. If we could handle the suffering we’re going through, then we won’t turn to God. This verse isn’t talking about suffering, although a lot of scripture does. It is talking about temptation and that’s what I wanted to get to.
All Temptation is Common
No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to man. Sometimes I want to think that I’m special. If you’re anything like me, it’s easy to think that what I’m going through is different and harder than what other people are going through. That my temptation makes me unique and set apart from others. It’s easy to fall into the mindset that my temptation is bigger and harder and different. That way when I fail, I have an excuse, justification of my actions. When I yell at my kids and feel convicted that I wasn’t patient, I can justify my reactions because my kids are harder or have different needs than the average kid. When I complain to myself or someone else about another person, I can justify my sin because that person is hard and difficult to be in friendship with. But any excuse is just that…an excuse. Am I really going to let another person control my thoughts or my temper or my words? My temptation is actually common, normal, average. There are a lot of people that struggle the way that I do. Rather than seeing myself as unique, what if I gathered a community around myself? What if I used the temptation to create a community of other moms that want to work on being patient with their kids and we as a group tackle the sin we’re all struggling with?
God is faithful
God is faithful in the moment of my temptation to give me the strength to endure or the way out to escape. God is also faithful when I fail and forgives me of my sin. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).” Back in 1 Corinthians, verse 12 reminds us to be careful if we think we’re standing firm. When we get prideful and think we aren’t vulnerable, we’ll fail and sin. We won’t be able to withstand temptations. God is faithful.
It’s interesting the broader context of this chapter, idol worshipping. When we take our eyes off of Jesus and onto what’s going on around us, we are weak against temptation. When we put our trust and belief in ourselves or an idol, we become susceptible. I’d love to give you a few suggestions of things that help me. Things that I am preaching to my own heart right now.
- Admit why this particular temptation is so hard. For me, whenever I admit why I’m struggling, it gives me more strength to overcome. Calling it what it is. For example, it’s easier for me to mentally and spiritually prepare for the day when I get up knowing I’m tired after a bad night’s sleep. I’m being honest with myself that it might be harder to be patient today.
- Get a drink of water. Again, for me it makes a difference to help my physial body out so that the mental/emotional/spiritual parts can function better.
- Speak truth to the lies. Jesus fought temptation with scripture and I think we often skip over our most effective tool to fight temptation. Use google or a Bible app to find some verses or passages that speak to what your dealing with. Ask a friend or a leader at your church for some suggestions.
- Be honest with a safe friend. Ask for help! We were made for community and God doesn’t want us to fight alone. The devil loves when we think we’re alone and there’s no one to reach out to. If someone doesn’t come to mind right away, ask God to bring someone to you that could speak life and truth into your situation.
I realize the subject of temptation is large and deep and I’m not trying to oversimplify the topic. I’m not trying to minimize the struggle and the fight it takes to go up against some big parts of our sanctification. I hope and pray that you’ll pause for a moment and think about temptation in your life. I hope and pray that God might use this verse right now to bring something to mind that He wants to deal with. I hope and pray that God will move and work and mold you to be more like Christ. I hope and pray that you are encouraged and empowered in Christ to take up the fight against temptation. I hope and pray that you know you can fight and you can win because God is mighty in you.
Abigail Denton 