In Over Your Head
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, that you may be able to endure it. 1 Corinthians 10:13
Beyond – Have you ever felt as though you were in over your head, anxious that you might drown in the situation? Do you know what it’s like to have that nauseating feeling of sinking under the stress and strain? Well, now you know what God promises not to happen in your confrontation with temptation! He will not allow you to sink under the waves of possible temptation because He will restrain all that might be too much for you.
Isn’t that wonderful to know? God Himself is actively engaged in limiting the degree of temptation in order that we might experience victory rather than defeat. When we pray, “Lead us not into temptation,” we are simply reiterating what God has already promised. He will always provide a way out. There is no human temptation that comes up behind you that is of tsunami proportions. Even in our darkest hours, God restrains the attack.
The Greek word huper is used in a variety of situations. In this case, it carries the meaning of excess. We find it in the English word hyperbole. It’s about too much. But what matters in this verse is that no huper is too much for God. That’s the secret. There are plenty of temptations that are too much for me. In fact, in my natural state, I am vulnerable to every temptation. After all, the siren call of a temptation appeals directly to some aspect of my fallen nature. That’s why I absolutely must have God’s intervention. Without a God Who has no limit, I am lost. He knows exactly what I am able to resist as a result of the indwelling Spirit. He is in total control of the speed limit on my life’s highway. Nothing gets past Him.
Oh, how I need to know this sacred truth! I am weak, but He is strong. When I try to resist temptation from my own strength, it’s like arm-wrestling with myself. Even if I win, I lose. Real victory comes from running away – straight into the arms of the God Who knows no limits. My God is the huper God. He is above and beyond all my needs and He has no plan for me to fall under the gristmill of sin. Our human preoccupation with self-determined sufficiency is grain under the enemy’s wheel. If temptation is to turn into victorious obedience rather than humiliating defeat, it must drive us to renounce our basic default humanity, namely, the thinking that I can handle this.
“Jesus, forgive my arrogance, believing that my own strength is adequate for the task. Forgive my dependence on self-in-control. Help me learn the lesson of my fallen nature, and run to You, the author and finisher of my faith.” The God above watches out for those below.
