In Your Hands
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
What You Are Able – The great mystery of the good news is that you are responsible for your actions in a world where you have no willpower to perform them.
Scripture teaches that the heart, the very core of human volition, is thoroughly corrupt. Nothing good can come from it. That’s why David voices our universal plea, “Create in me a new heart – one that will be obedient to You.” And God responds. We are given a new constitution, the new man, clothed in the righteousness of Jesus – a second chance to do it right. What is paradoxical is that we very quickly discover our complete insufficiency in accomplishing this task. We are weak and unworthy, but nevertheless, expected to be obedient. With that discovery comes the mystery of grace – that I am to work out my salvation with fear and trembling, for it is my job to do so, but it is God who works in me to accomplish what I clearly cannot.
When Paul uses the word dynamai (to be able), he certainly implies that God arranges and restrains and controls our temptations so that we can, in fact, respond obediently. Our momentary fate is truly in our own hands. If it were not so, there would be no need for God to withhold the overpowering awfulness of sin. The fact that He graciously allows only what I can handle, means that He expects me to handle it. And that is precisely the mystery of it all, for I know, beyond any shadow of doubt, that I simply can’t handle it. My whole life’s history is one of disobedience. What could ever change a lifetime of failed attempts to please Him?
The unraveling of this mystery is found in the biblical understanding of weakness. It is a very old theme, reaching back to the exodus. We are not expected to withstand sin’s onslaught in our own strength. We don’t have the constitution needed to do so. We are expected to make the deliberate choice to defer to God’s sufficiency. When Paul pleaded three times for release from his difficulty, God’s answer was the universal answer to all resistance fighting. “My grace is sufficient.” What is in my hands, what I have the power to do, is to immediately turn to Him. As soon as I feel the pinprick, I know that God has given me the opportunity to fulfill His vote of confidence in me. God is saying, “I going to allow this because I know that you are able to make the choice to turn this situation over to Me instead of trying to go it on your own. I’m ready. Just say the word.”
I am able – able to glory in my weakness and turn it all over to Him. That’s all that’s needed.
