Escape
Route
By
Elin Henderson
“No
temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is
faithful who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but
with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able
to bear it.”
1 Corinthians 10:13
(NKJV, emphasis added)
Living overseas in the middle of
nowhere, one of the things we are required to have by our contingency/safety
team is several ways “out” in the case of emergency, catastrophe, etc. Basically,
these are our “escape routes" in the unlikely event we would need them! So
far, praise the Lord, we have never needed to use these escape routes but we
have them planned nonetheless, and it gives us relative peace to know that
should a crisis arise, we are prepared!
Isn’t it great that God does not
leave us alone in our crises and the temptations of the enemy and our sinful
nature? He provides a way of escape! We all know it isn’t a matter of “if” but
“when” the attack will come, and He is prepared for all contingencies. Frontal
attack, attack from the rear, side swiping, overhead bombing, whatever the
enemy and our sinful nature throw at us, His escape route is secure and ready!
Nothing takes Him by surprise. For each one of us, He has custom-crafted
individual escape routes from the temptations that come our way. Each one is
unique to the needs we have and allows us to be able to bear up under the
strain that the temptation brings.
We often miss the escape routes
altogether though because our eyes are focused in the wrong place. We either look
at the crisis or temptation, and become overwhelmed by it, or we look inward to
our own strength to resist it, and come up with quick fixes that only end in
defeat and discouragement. There is only one escape artist, and that is the
Lord. We must look to Him if we are to successfully locate and utilize the
escape routes He has set in place.
So, the next time you encounter a
temptation along the path of life, remember that the GOD has made a way “out.”
We don’t need to fold under the pressure. He makes a way of escape and strengthens
us in the process. Let’s fix our eyes on Jesus, the Author (of our Escape
Route) and Perfecter of our Faith!
GOING DEEPER:
1.
Make a list of the temptations that have been
coming your way lately, then ask the Lord to specifically show you His ESCAPE
ROUTE for each of those.
FURTHER READING:
Oakwood’s missionaries, Elin Henderson (a registered nurse) and
her husband Phil serve as church planters with New Tribes Mission in
Mozambique, Africa. Elin is mother to sixteen-year-old Callie and
thirteen-year-old Elias.
