Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. 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. Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry. (1 Corinthians 10:11-14)
" + "A Songwriter composed a song concerning verse 13 from the above scriptures. The song was entitled, "More than I Can Bear." This song is very emotional and expressive. In the beginning of the song, the singers are moaning, groaning, and wailing. It seems that the writer/producer wanted the listener to empathize with him, the singers, or with anyone who has ever been through something. Hence, the song begins: "I've gone through the fire/And I've been through the flood." The list continues with other things that the person has gone through but then reassures the listener, "No he'll never/ Put more on me/than I can bear." The writer says that because God loves and cares about us so much that God will never allow us to be under more burden than we can bear. Towards the end of the song, the writer takes the listener through a declaration. He says "Unh Unh, Never" will God put more on us that we can bear. It even goes to the point where the singer says, "His word says he won't/ I believe it/ I receive it/ I claim it/ It's mine."
" + "I used to like this song until I really started trying to live the Word as the Word is meant to be lived. I began to realize that songs like this one cause us to try to create a reality that will never exist for the people of God. There has never been a time when the people of God were in the majority. Consequently, everyone around us will necessarily be against the God in whom we believe. They will, in addition, be against us. So with the world against us, as Israel discovered centuries before, we will always be fighting against temptation. The world does not just simply want us to put away our love for God; the world wants us to respond in kind, to be like the world. So when situations come, the challenge is to resist the spirit of the world, the spirit that is in the world, and to see things the way God sees them.
" + "Paul says very plainly, "there is no temptation taken you." In other words, there are things we will experience without our having a choice. Things literally take us without us having a say in the matter. This is the part where we have trouble, as the song above seems to suggest. We cry and moan about how much we have to endure instead of focusing on the promise of God. Yes, we are not supposed neglect the Friday experience: Jesus definitely died on Friday, and we ought to remember and celebrate this. But Jesus did not die so that we could complain about the temptations we WILL HAVE to suffer. He died so that we could realize the place where God's glory would be manifest. It comes in our death to the world and our acceptance of the will of God for our lives. The problem with the song is that it reflects a problem with the human heart. Suffering breeds a lingering contempt for God. Regardless of how much we say, "he'll never put more on me," the fact that we are upset about temptations bespeaks that we already think he has gone too far.
" + "But here is the question, has God gone too far? Did God give Israel undue punishment for their sins against them? Is suffering too much to ask for the person who wants to seek the Lord? The answer to all of these questions has to be a resounding NO! The reason is that the song is correct from this point: God does love and care about us. No matter how much our flesh tells us otherwise, God does love us. This is why Paul says something that the song misses to bring out of this verse, "God is faithful." The fact that God is faithful means that God will never neglect us. He never gives empty promises. He delivers, in his time. I do not have to name and claim this verse to make God to act on my behalf. The temptations I have to endure, whether caused by me or God himself, come because I live in a world that is against God and all that God stands for. I have to endure and look to my Father for guidance and comfort in all things, through good and bad. God promises that "all things work together for the good" (Rom 8:28), a very misinterpreted verse of scripture. It does not mean that I will not suffer temptation. It means exactly what verses 11-14 above explains, we should listen to what God says lest we fall. We should always be in a position to hear the voice of our God, never in a position to "murmur" (1 Cor 10:10) as the children of Israel did. Why? Because God says he's faithful and that with the temptation he will always give us a "way to escape" so that we "may be able to bear it." The way to escape is not for the purpose of escaping. Notice the verse never says this to us. It says he gives us a way to escape to bear the temptation. The reason is because we are fighting an ongoing war against idolatry.
" + "Satan wants to change us into him. He wants us to be like him, to wail and complain under the rule of God. God's way is different. He reminds us in our temptations that we are always walking along the road of salvation as long as we keep our minds stayed on him (Is 26:3). The way of salvation is the way of peace; that's why the gospel we believe is called the gospel of peace (Rom 10:15; Eph 6:15). The same gospel of our salvation is the means by which Christ declares his peace against Satan and his forces, and they become silent before him. Satan is rebuked of the Lord and is put to shame by this word of peace because Satan wants us to disbelieve in God's faithfulness. He puts the world in chaos, causing all kinds of temptation, because he wants us to think that we are not in peace. But those of us who are in Christ, are in peace. We can bear temptation because of the peace of God. We can come against the idols of this world, the spirits that bring temptation, as long as we stay with our God. The powerful thing has already been agreed upon in our favor, for he has already promised that he will stay with us. If we draw nigh to him, the guarantee has already been made; he will draw nigh to us (Jos 4:8). He is not holding back, so we have no excuse any longer.
" + "Nothing is more than I can bear because I can bear all things through the power of God. We have to learn to stop using God's word as an excuse to complain. We complain through reminding God of his own words. We say that we have to remind him of what he said to claim the victory for ourselves, not so brothers and sisters. The victory is not something we can claim. It is something we believe and is a free gift (1 John 5:4). It is something that is given to those who work through God and allow God to work in them (1 Cor 15:57-58).
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