A Thought

“Let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.  No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.”  1 Corinthians 10:12-13

You’ve no doubt heard the saying that ‘the Lord will not lead you to what the Lord will not lead you through’, or something to that effect.  St. Paul is referring to Old Testament examples of faith, people of the Bible who endured challenges and temptations but persevered with the knowledge and faith of the presence of the Lord – or fell into judgment by their own poor choices.  So we must also take note of the “temptation” and “the way of escape” to which St. Paul refers as the “temptation … as is common to man”.  In other words, we should not come to think the temptations we face are unique to us or our particular situations, but should rather understand what we endure “as is common”; that is, what everyone else has probably gone through or will face soon enough.  Whether these temptations are divine “tests” is not so easy to distinguish from “common temptations”.

Too many have come to believe that whatever they are confronted with, for good or for bad, must be a “sign” from the Lord, a direct assault by the evil one, or divine negligence.  Whether it is or it isn’t is not so much the concern as our obligation to discern through diligent prayer and fasting; that is, thinking before we respond.  Married persons, for instance, have been confronted with temptations to stray (a very ‘common’ thing) and always have the ‘way of escape’ before them, but some have actually convinced themselves that the illicit relationship is somehow ordained of the Lord because of the ease with which it came and the infatuation it can bring.  Convincing ourselves that the Lord has somehow blessed adultery in our case is simply wrong; we fail to acknowledge the “common” element of that temptation, and we choose not to see the greater “way of escape” that is always before us.  And this applies to any other thing we desire for ourselves but know we do not need.  Or the temptation to think the Lord has turned His back to us because a loved one is stricken with illness or dies unexpectedly.  In our grief we fail to realize people get sick every single day, and people die every single day.  It is “common”; but when it happens to us, it is not so “common” but very, very personal.

It comes down to whether we are of the flesh or of the Spirit (Romans 8:4).  The flesh will almost always give in to the “common” temptations (it’s why our society is in such a mess!), but the Spirit walks with the Word; that is, Christ.  Stand firm in the faith and by the Word!  The Lord will show us the way ‘through’ and the way ‘out’ – for we are not “common” people!

Blessings,

Michael