God will allow temptation in our lives and He allows us to make decisions freely as to those temptations. I have heard folks ask, if God is so good, why would He allow evil to happen, and to those I will say that which is in my first sentence. Evil is in the world whether we like it or want it to be. Temptation is in the world when we like it or want it to be. When those come together, there are the choices to be made freely.
Just because there is evil and temptation in the world, does not mean that God is not with me. The Israelite people were God’s chosen and yet idolatry and temptation wast there. God did not abandon them, He dealt harshly with those that made those choices and participated. He allowed the people to choose and they did not choose wisely.
“13No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.” — 1 Corinthians 10:13 (ESV)
And in the first part of the above verse, God gives us the answer. He will not allow for temptation or evil in my life that I cannot overcome. I will have the strength to make the right decisions, I only need act.
Even in times when I will not make the right decision, I will not be alone. I will have the strength provided by God to deal with the consequences, and you can see that He will give me the way to overcome and endure that poor decision. I need only trust in His faithful execution of His plan for me and there I will have the way to deal with the temptation and consequences of the poor decision made.
I am a sinner and will continue to be tempted with evil. I will continue to make poor decisions related to those temptations and the evil that is part of them. I will have to deal with the consequences and that may even be for some time. But, God in His faithfulness to me and His love for me will not let me endure on my own. I will be provided the way out, although, maybe not the way I want though. I will endure. I will have help. I will be able to rely on Him to get me through it. I will have still have to endure the difficulty and the consequences to my decisions, but I will have the help and helper needed to get me through all my decisions.
What decisions in life have you made that you are still trying to tackle on your own? Are you looking for the way to get through them? What if you just put your head down and allowed God to help you with the decision and faithfully provide your endurance?
Trevor's Thoughts 