How's This For A Shot of Encouragement!

“No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.” 1 Corinthians 10:13

I love this verse! First it says that God is faithful. That right there is a great thing to read in the morning. God IS faithful, and he will remain faithful to us for always. After that it says that He will not let us be tempted beyond what we can bear. This is also a great thing. Just yesterday I was talking about how God knows our every thought, and he also knows our character. He knows what we can handle, and will never give us more than that. He may allow challenges and temptations to come our way, but it's to prove ourselves. Or to prove our God to ourselves, and we can overcome every challenge that comes our way through Him. Every time Andy and I find ourselves in the middle of a trial, we wonder what is going to come of it. And regardless of how long the challenge lasted, on the other side we always come out a little bit wiser, and a whole lot deeper in our faith. Because our God is faithful, and he has proven it to us time and time again.

And then the verse finishes up with something even more encouraging! When we are tempted-when there is something blocking our path and we are so tempted to stray, it says that God will provide a way. He will provide the means necessary to overcome the temptation that is calling your name. That is excellent news to read! It means that when temptation is calling my name, I need to look to heaven and my God for the way out. I have complete faith that he will help me around each and every obstacle that comes before me, because HE IS faithful.

And finally, then I want to go back to the beginning of the verse. Knowing that God is faithful, that he will not allow temptation beyond what we can handle, and knowing that He will provide a way out, we can also know that what is tempting us is not unique to us. We are not the sole bearers of that burden. Others have gone through what we are going through, and often times, we need to reach out to those around us to help us through. We will not all the sudden be confronted by a new temptation beyond the scope of man. It's these times that God often puts people in our lives who have gone through what we are facing, and we need to listen and see what they have to say to us.

With God by our side, we can overcome anything. No struggle is too much for us with God. He will come through every single time. That is a great way to start a Friday morning!