1 Corinthians 10:13 (NIV)

{13} 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.

The backdrop of 1st Corinthians 10:13, is that the Apostle Paul was encouraging the Corinthians to stand strong in their walk with the Lord. The first thing that we must understand is that temptations, tests, and trials do not come from God. It is a sad commentary but many God fearing people believe that God is the one who sends temptations, tests and trials our way. God has been blamed for many tragedies, and He has had nothing to do with them.

Many God fearing people consistently blame God for the death of a child, or the premature death of a loved one. God gets blamed for car wrecks, sickness and disease, bad weather etc. Even insurance companies have categorized natural disasters as “Acts of God.” It is amazing to me how many believers forget a very pertinent verse.

John 10:10 (KJV)

{10} The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

If it is stealing, killing and destroying, you can rest assure that it is not from God. Other verses we can stand on is in Matthew.

Matthew 6:10-13 (NIV)

{10} Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.

{11} Give us today our daily bread.

{12} Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors {13} And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.

AS IT IS IN HEAVEN:

Jesus taught the disciples to pray in conjunction with how things are in Heaven. I submit to you that there is no sickness in heaven. There is no poverty in heaven. There are no adverse conditions in heaven. Even so, some well meaning Christians tell us that we have those adverse and ugly things because they are permitted by God to teach us something. If sickness is the will of God, why do so many run to the medicine cabinet to get rid of God's will? If God was the author of it, why don't they try to keep it, instead of getting rid of it? If sickness and disease were from God where did He get it?

What kind of Father is our God? Is He the kind of Father that is considered good, one that brings up His children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord? Or is He a Father that abuses His children? Our concept of God as our Father is going to affect and rule our entire life. It is going to have an influence on every interpretation of the Word of God. A good father never breaks a child’s leg or arm to punish him or her. Neither does he cause them to be broken up in an accident. Nor does a good father give his son or daughter a disease. Christians must be spiritually sharp. Not only are we to withstand satans attacks, but we must also cling to constant vigilance and use of the armor of prayer and of spiritual warfare. Our adversary is not God, but the enemy of our soul.

Whom is the devil seeking? He is looking for the person who breaks the safety rules, violates the speed limit, and lets up on feeding on the Word of God etc. Why? They open the door to the devils attack. They are letting down their shield of faith, which gives the enemies darts the opportunity to get through to them (Ephesians 4:27).

“WHAT KIND OF FATHER IS OUR GOD?”

The Late Adam Clark put it this way: God will not allow you to be tried above the strength He gives you; but as the trial comes, He will provide you with sufficient strength to resist it; as the trial comes in, He will make your way out. He will, with the temptation, test, or trial, make the deliverance, or way out. The tempter is never permitted to block up our way, without the providence of God making a way through the wall. God never makes a breach in his otherwise impregnable fortification. Should an upright soul get into difficulties and straits, he may rest assured that there is a way out, as there was a way in; and that the trial shall never be above the strength that God shall give him to overcome it. –AWM

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