God Is Watching Out For You

Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it 1 Corinthians 10: 12-13.

I’ve heard it said that "God won’t put more on you than you can bear". The above scripture is the reference used to support this statement. But that is not what this scripture says. God is not "putting" anything on us. In fact, God is watching out for us.

This scripture is actually an encouragement for us to be strong when we face temptation. You see, temptation is here and it isn’t going anywhere. Soon it’s going to show up in your life, and when it does your fleshly desires can be quite overwhelming.

But God isn’t sending temptation our way (see James 1: 13-14). The scripture says that He is faithful to not allow us to be tempted above that we are able. In other words, we can handle whatever temptation that comes our way. God makes sure of that. But sometimes we are not wise in utilizing our escape routes.

God is always defending us. He will never abandon us to struggle through life on our own. Neither does He expect us to bear the burden of temptation all alone. He promises to help us. Therefore, when temptation comes our way, He sounds an alarm in plenty of time for us to get away. But the longer we remain in that situation, the outcome is predictable. The flesh is weak; it wants to give in to pleasure because it feels good. The problem is not that we were overtaken by temptation, but that we gave in to the fleshly appeal. We did it. We didn’t slip up. We weren’t caught at a weak moment. The devil didn’t make us do it. God warned us and we ignored Him.

The devil gets blamed for a lot of things that he has nothing to do with. In fact, if the devil were to leave the earth today, it is likely that no one would notice. Our flesh would continue to lust for what it doesn’t need. The devil uses our fleshly desires to lead us into sin because we allow him to. But most of the time, we just do it ourselves.

God is watching out for us. He sets a limit on the intensity of every temptation. He knows us inside and out; therefore He makes certain that we never reach our breaking point. It may be financial pressure, anger, gossiping, sex, drugs, or whatever other pressure that comes our way. In every one of them, God is watching out for us.

Before Satan can come to us, he has to go by God first. God controls it all. Even at your weakest point and in your weakest area, God is not standing in the background observing from a distance. He is making sure that we are in a position to keep ourselves pure. The scripture says that He is "faithful". In other words, we can trust Him. If we lose a battle, it wasn’t because God was not involved. He was watching out the whole time. There is no such thing as "I couldn’t help it". God gives us a way out of temptation each and every time.

One problem is that many people don’t look for a way out. They don’t want to escape. They have missed the big picture where sin is concerned. But any person who is serious about living holy; we have a way out.

We are not debtors to the flesh to live after the flesh Romans 8:12. We don’t owe the flesh anything. We should not feel such intense pressure to satisfy our flesh. Sin shall not reign over you, for you are not under the law but under grace Romans 6:12. When we receive the Holy Ghost, we receive a far greater power than that of the devil, the world, the flesh, sin or any other influence. Without exception, we can say "no" to sin and "yes" to Him.

If you don’t have the Holy Ghost, get it. If you have the Holy Ghost, use it. If you don’t apply the power, it won’t do you any good. Faith without works is dead James 2:20.

I have a 2002 Lexus. It has 6 cylinders and 220 horses. I can use automatic or stick. It has more than enough power to get me where I want to go, and get me there quickly. But it is no benefit to me if I park it in the garage. I use it. I maintain it, service it and keep it in good running condition. Therefore, when I need the power, it’s there.

When we are born into the world, we are born with a fleshly nature. The flesh has a desire all its own. It operates under the power of sin, and it is trying to fulfill every desire and meet every need in any way it can.

So when we give our lives to God, it creates a major conflict. The bible becomes our standard where there was no standard. We have to learn to serve others instead of our selves. We have to discipline ourselves and we can’t take out revenge. We have to live unselfishly and be cheerful about it. And the grand of all commandments’ we have to love everybody.

"I don’t care, do it yourself. Nobody tells me what to do". That’s the flesh. Paul said, "For in me dwells no good thing; the good that I would do, I do not; when I try to do good, evil is present". Paul was always in a struggle. But God was faithful; He was always watching out for Paul providing him a way out.

Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound. God forbid. How shall we who are dead to sin live any longer therein Romans 6: 1-3. Sin doesn’t have the power to force our flesh to do anything. That doesn’t mean that sin is going to abdicate. It’s still here and it has access to our flesh. But it has no authority over us. We are free. We give in to temptation because we chose to give in; not because we were too weak.

According to Ephesians 5:15, we are to walk circumspectly. In other words be careful and get it right. People don’t plan to get in trouble, they just never plan to stay out of trouble. Youth are that way in relationships. No matter how pretty and bright she is or how sensitive and caring he is, if the relationship is out of the parameters of God’s will, it’s wrong. Stop rationalizing.

"Be careful". Do you know when teens are most prone to do things they normally wouldn’t do? When they’ve had a blowout with their parents. That’s when they go out and have a beer or smoke some pot. Businessmen who have big success on the job for some reason feel they owe it to themselves to have some extra fun. "Be careful". Stay in touch. Don’t ruin your future by lying, cheating, or stealing.

Make plans. Plan to stay pure. Plan to keep things from happening. Businessmen don’t start out with intent on being dishonest. Single girls don’t plan to end up with unwanted pregnancies or on an abortion table. Married couples don’t start out planning on divorcing and teens don’t plan to test drugs and alcohol or lose their virginity. But these things happen all the time

We need to realize that God is watching out for us. He is in our corner all the time. And if we hear and obey His voice, we will discover the way out of every temptation that we face.

By: Edmund Brown