‘…God…will…make a way of escape…’ 1 CORINTHIANS 10:13 KJV
Look at the last part of this verse: ‘[God] will…make a way of escape, that ye may be able to bear it.’ Before the Army sends you into battle it first sends you to boot camp. You’re up at dawn running miles with a heavy backpack, climbing over barricades, crawling through mud with the sounds of gunfire all around you, taking orders from authority figures you don’t like, who make you do stuff you don’t want to do. But when you pass the test you get to wear the uniform and fight for your country. Now with that picture in mind, reread these words: ‘But will with the temptation also make a way of escape, that ye may be able to bear it.’ The Living Bible says, ‘…So that you can bear up patiently against it.’ God is looking for people who are able to bear up under training, then go out and win the battle with the enemy. For every problem, God has a solution. But it may not be the solution you have in mind! Satan’s strategy is to defeat you by wearing you down, so winning is not a matter of escape but of endurance. Tenacious faith and commitment is one of the great themes of Scripture. It’s also the secret of victory. When their prison doors miraculously opened, Paul and Silas realised that God’s plan for them was not to escape but to stay there and win the jailer and his family to Christ. Sometimes God’s ‘way of escape’ is to keep you where you are and use you to bring glory to His name.
Bible In A Year: Zech 12-14, John 21:15-25
