1st 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 away to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.”
It has, no doubt, appeared at times that our own trials and temptations are unique, and that every ill that has come upon mankind since the day Adam listened to Eve’s voice in the garden has pick us out as a special target. Perhaps our neighbors feel the same way about themselves.
“Oh, no,” we would probably exclaim, “not much that is evil ever happens to them.”
How can we be so certain about this? What, after all, do we really know about other people unless they tell us about their troubles? Many an unfortunate person has seemed happy and successful until one day we pick up the daily paper and are horrified to find that he or she has ended it all in some tragic fashion.
We, as children of God, have inherited the promise that no temptation will exceed what we are able to bear, for a way of escape is provided for us. We probably will not know exactly what this avenue w ill be or when it will be presented to us. It may be a letter, a telephone call, a gift, a visit or some unexpected bit of good news. Whatever it is, we should recognize it when it comes.
In the face of the unspeakable tragedies taking place in the world today, and the bewilderment and suffering of mankind in general, should we not be very thankful that God has promised that no matter how great the trial, there will be a way of escape for us as God’s children?
When temptations overtake us,
And life is dark indeed,
And seemingly we are alone,
Our God will intercede;
He will make a way we can escape
From grief’s detaining hand,
And pain and sorrow will take flight
At His divine command.
Psalms 55:22: “Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.”
We need never suffer from insupportable burdens when the Lord has told us to cast them upon Him and He will sustain us. But so many times after we have turned our burdens over to Him we unconsciously take them back again. This does not mean, of course, that we need have no concern whatsoever about our daily affairs, but that we need have no Anxious concern about them. After we have done all that we can do to help ourselves, we must then wait patiently for God to finish the work.
When we think that we have more burdens than anybody else could possibly have, let us call to mind the story of the man who thought he had the heaviest cross in the world. An angel placed a number of crosses before him and told him that he might choose one of them instead of his own. But, after trying them all, he decided that he preferred his own and took it up without further complaint.
God knows what is needed to change a child of His from a self-centered, perhaps unlovely person into one who will reflect the tenderness and compassion of Jesus Christ. And how indeed could we sympathize with the tribulations of others if we had not suffered from them ourselves? When we think of the blind, the lame, the crippled, and countless others with such heavy burdens to bear, our cross in comparison will sink into insignificance, we will realize how much we have to be thankful for, and praise God every day for our many blessings.
Why falter in our daily task,
Why bow beneath the load
Why toil until our courage fails
Upon a rocky road?
Let us cast our burdens on the Lord,
Who has promised to sustain,
And when we see His face some day,
All things shall be made plain. —
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One