A Way of Escape

"No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it." 1 Corinthians 10:13

There is a saying among Christians that goes something like, "God will not give you more than you can handle." It comes from the verse in 1 Corinthians 10:13 where Paul is talking to the church in Corinth about temptation. Most often what is concluded from this verse is simply that a Christian should just flee temptation rather than stay and sin. There is nothing wrong with physically removing yourself from any chance to sin. However, is God giving you the temptation as a test to see if you can handle it or not? If so, with the amount of sin present in the lives of Christians, it would appear God is allowing them to be tempted beyond what they are able. Furthermore, is fleeing temptation only accomplished through an act of the will? In Genesis 39, there is the story of Joseph and the wife of his master, Potiphar. Joseph was successful in all that he did as a slave to his master. Yet, one day, Potiphar's wife tries to seduce Joseph. The Bible says, "Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance. It came about after these events that his master’s wife looked with desire at Joseph, and she said, “Lie with me (Genesis 39:6-7).” Joseph refused her advances, but she persisted daily. Then on one occasion, "She caught him by his garment, saying, “Lie with me!” And he left his garment in her hand and fled, and went outside (Genesis 39:12)." Again, Joseph did the right thing and fled the temptation to commit adultery. Now, we could argue that Joseph should have brought this matter to the attention of his master, but doing so could have come with its own set of uncomfortable circumstances. That being said, his master's wife, having a piece of his garment in her hand took the opportunity to frame Joseph. When her husband came home she said to him, "The Hebrew slave, whom you brought to us, came into me to make sport of me; and as I raised my voice and screamed, he left his garment beside me and fled outside (Genesis 39:17-18).” Potiphar, not knowing his wife was lying, threw Joseph in prison. It has been said that Joseph was imprisoned for ten years! Thankfully, the Bible says that "the Lord was with Joseph and extended kindness to him, and gave him favor in the sight of the chief jailer (Genesis 39:21)." But, yet he spent an entire decade in prison and lost all he had accomplished up to that point, all because of a false accusation. Eventually, Joseph got out of prison and his story has a happy ending as he was reunited with his father, Jacob, and his brothers who had sold him into slavery. While the story ended well, can we say that God made the wife of Joseph's master tempt him with adultery in order to show that He doesn't give us more than we can handle? If so, then we have to say that God made the woman tempt Joseph with the prospect of an adulterous affair and then made her lie about it to her husband. If that is the case then we have just opened the door to all sorts of false interpretations about the Bible.

What does it mean when it says that God provides us with a "way of escape" when we are tempted? It is one thing to just run away when a temptation like that which Joseph endured comes along. However, most of our temptation to sin comes from our own desires within us. God has designed us in such a way that we all desire the need for unconditional love, total acceptance, meaning, and purpose to life. However, God is the only one who can fill these needs in Himself through His indwelling Holy Spirit. We often are misled into believing that if we indulge our flesh in sin, one or more of those desires will be met. Perhaps, Potiphar's wife was deceived into thinking that if she committed adultery with Joseph her desire for love and acceptance would be met. Although he never gave into temptation, perhaps the fact that Joseph put himself in harm's way "day after day (Genesis 39:10)," giving his master's wife the opportunity to try and seduce him, was meeting the desires of his heart in some way.  Through faith in Christ, God meets those desires of our heart as only He can. God loves us unconditionally. Romans 8:39 says that nothing, "will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." God accepts us. Romans 15:7 says, "Therefore, accept one another, just as Christ also accepted us to the glory of God." God gives our lives meaning. Philippians 3:10 says, "I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death ..." God gives our lives purpose. 1 Peter 2:9 says, "But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light." Knowing these truths doesn't prevent us from sinning. What knowing these truths does for us is they give us an alternative to sin so that rather than just having the option to flee from the temptation to sin, we have something that no sin can provide. Therefore, we engage the world with what God has given to us to share with it, rather than looking for the world to provide something to us that can only be found through engaging in sin. When your heart is changed by God as the result of an encounter with His indwelling Spirit through faith in Jesus Christ, your focus turns to Him. When your focus is on Him it is off of you. When it is off of you it is off of your flesh. When it is off of your flesh you will be less inclined to try and indulge your flesh. Your flesh will not improve, but your focus on it will diminish. Jesus Christ has thus become your "way of escape." Rather than just fleeing from sin, you are embracing all God has given to you by faith.