Endurance part 3
"I can't do this." Maybe not by yourself. But I'm here to tell you, "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me" (Philippians 4:13). I'm here to tell you that, "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" (1 Corinthians 10:13). And that word "escape" there, by the way, is number 1545 in Strong's Greek Concordance and it means "to go out; an exit (literally or figuratively): - end." Not necessarily escaping in the sense of avoiding things, but more in the sense of, well, enduring them. Getting to the end of it. It came to pass, not to stay. Look at this verse in the Amplified Bible. It's a little wordy, but I think it's good. "For no tempatation (no trial regarded as enticing to sin), [no matter how it comes or where it leads] has overtaken you and laid hold on you that is not common to man [that is, no temptation or trial has come to you that is beyond human resistance and that is not adjusted and adapted and belonging to human experience, such as man can bear]. But God is faithful [to His Word and His compassionate nature], and He [can be trusted] not to let you be tempted and tried and assayed beyond your ability and strength of resistence and power to endure, but with the temptation He will [always] also provide the way out (the means of escape to a landing place), that you may be capable and strong and powerful to bear up under it patiently." We all go through stuff. That's life. But we don't have to let stuff go through us. We can "escape," right in the midst of our trials and tribulations, to a safe landing place. The Rock. The high ground. Love. And then, with love holding us up, nothing can drag us down. Nothing can trip us up. We can walk that straight and narrow path that leads to life. We can get through what we're going through, knowing that there's a light at the end of the tunnel. Knowing that while all things are not necessarily good, all things work together for good. Sometimes you have to whether the storm in order to get to the rainbow. Sometimes the storm is just washing everything clean. Getting rid of things that don't belong. The consuming fire raging wild and consuming everything except itself (Himself). God is faithful to His Word (which is Jesus, which is love) and His own compassionate nature. He can't do anything BUT love because He IS love. So we can trust Him. We can endure because HE has endured. We are overcomers because HE has already overcome the world. We don't need to overcome because, really, there is nothing left TO overcome. The only fight left is the good fight of faith in which we lay hold of the eternal life that we've already been given. We hold onto that gift... by giving it away. By sharing it. We endure by helping each other. I trust God to have my back, and that's what equips and empowers me to have your back. I simply receive and release the love of God that I've already been given. Let what's inside come out by knowing and believing that it's in there!