05/25/2023
Sometimes you just need to escape!
Escape means to break free from confinement or control.
1 Corinthians 10:13
There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
Temptation is not sin, but rather becomes sin when we fail to escape.
Anger, anxiety, depression etc. are indicators that we are in need of an escape route.
God always provides a way out IF we are willing to take it.
IF is key 🔑 .
Often we think more highly of ourselves than we ought especially when thinking things such as “if it is to be, it is up to me.” While it is true, that God uses vessels for service, it is also true that his will will never contradict his word. God is clear that we are not to survive, but rather thrive, serving from a heart of peace and rest.
Often our greatest temptation is when we are faced with change. We’re prone to fight changes with health, aging, marriage, children, and jobs, but what if we just lived a life of surrender that is free of what I like to call “peace thieves?”
1 John 1:8-10 shows us the elements in which escape routes are made.
Truth- is a person in whom I should be completely dependent.
Faithful- if I am to be faithful, I must be like Jesus.
Forgive- Jesus forgives and enables me to share with others.
Cleanse- Jesus washes me with the Word.
Word- Jesus is the WORD of truth that “liveth and abideth forever.”
When we are faced with temptations such as worry, fear, anxiety, busy-ness, unfaithfulness, and anything else, we can revisit these verses and ask a few evaluation questions.
❓What is true?
❓How does this situation encourage faithfulness in my life?
❓Am I demonstrating forgiveness?
❓Have I washed my heart in the Word?
We can always default to these whether fighting against temptation, personal sin, or the sin of others.
There’s never a time that we cry out for an escape route that the Master won’t meet us there.
Psalm 71:2
Deliver me in thy righteousness, and cause me to escape:
Proverbs 28:26
… whoso walketh wisely, he shall be delivered.
