Through the Fire

The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand… –1 Corinthians 10:13 NLT

Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you’ve just had enough? You’ve read scriptures that promise God will never allow more to come upon you than you can take without a way of escape through it. You believe them, but you’re just tired. You begin to think that perhaps God has more confidence in your endurance level than you do. In Matthew 26, we read the story of Jesus just before He was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane. Three times He prayed to the Father, “If it is possible, may this cup be taken from me.” But He didn’t stop there, he went on to pray, “Yet not as I will, but as you will” (Matthew 26:39 NIV). Then, in Matthew 26:42 (NIV), he prays, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.” Jesus was fully God and knew why He’d come, yet He was also fully man, and He struggled with accepting the torture and shame that awaited Him. He knows our struggle, for He lived it. Like Jesus, surrender to God’s will. His way of escape is often through the fire.