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An Impossible Escape
God has the power to overcome impossible situations.
Exodus 14, 1 Corinthians 10:13
One of the most iconic scenes from the Old Testament has to be when Moses led the Children of Israel out of slavery in Egypt. The armies of Pharaoh were chasing after him, and soon they found themselves wedged up against the Red Sea. In front of them was a watery grave, and behind them the soldiers and chariots of Pharaoh ready to cut them to bits. It seems as if no human escape was possible. But God had a plan. He had Moses hold his staff over the water, and soon the entire Red Sea was split in half, and the Israelites were able to escape on dry land. (Exodus 14)
This is an excellent reminder of how God is willing to work for our good even in seemingly impossible situations, and is one of the big points that Saint Paul writes about in first Corinthians ten, verse 13.
No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. (1 Corinthians 10:13)
This may sound all well and good to us, but how often do we practice this in our lives? When our bank accounts low and the rent’s coming due, how often do we trust in our own strength, our own abilities to deal with these and other problems? And when things don’t work out like we want them to? How often do we complain to God? God, what’s going on? I thought you wouldn’t give me anything more than I can bear!
How do we make sense of what Paul says here? The way to understand this is to realize that on our own strength, we aren’t able to bear things on our own. Far too often, we put our trust in our own strength, or in our money, or in the people we know. And far too often, these things disappoint. The answer instead lies with God. God is the one who’s created us. He is the one who provides for us. And he is the one who will help us in difficult times. We know this to be true because he has helped us with our greatest problem, that of sin and death.
You see, none of us have lived up perfectly to God’s law, and we deserve nothing more than to be condemned by him. But God helped us out of this seemingly impossible situation. He sent his Son Jesus into the world to live the perfect life that we could not. What’s more, Jesus went to the cross and died on our behalf. And because of his perfect life and his innocent suffering and death, we’ve been reconciled with God. Death has tried to swallow up Jesus, but it could not contain him. And he was able to escape its jaws of the tomb on Easter Sunday, showing once and for all his total victory.
And Jesus is still with us today. Through His Word we read about what he has done for us, and that gives us the strength to endure our trials. It’s because we don’t find our strength in ourselves, but rather we find our strength in Christ. If God was willing to give his only Son to die for us, how much more is he willing to be with us in our problems? He encourages us to pray to him, to ask him for help. Now, it may be that the answer to our prayers may not come as fast as we want, or it may not be the answer that we were hoping for. But God promises that he is working all things for our good. Beside His Word, God also gives us people in our lives, resources, such as parents, pastors, family, friends, all of these we can lean on in difficult times. And with all of this, we can be certain that because Christ has solved the biggest problem of our salvation, he is also willing to be with us in all temptation and provide us a means of escape.
