The first week has finally ended. This week saw most of us in classrooms with the professors telling us all that we will do for them and with them and with one another during the rest of this year. Yes, indeed, they have carefully crafted their plans to meet the expectations of their provost and peers, of the accreditation body (or bodies) and of their own selves. Guess what, they will continue to expect these things of us until we give every ounce thereof. I do not think they will be like Shylock in Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice", who was so bent on his usury for an ounce of flesh until he was tricked into "not a drop of blood"! No, they will not be so hateful! But they will be just as determined. And so we must deliver. For some it will be a temptation to be overwhelmed - gosh it is too much! I imagine a few who will appear underwhelmed - like nothing is happening, and will be asking for more (like Oliver Twist). And yet some will likely be sufficiently whelmed - no big deal, for 'this is why we are here' kind of thing!
Let me remind us of something that has always encouraged me. When Paul wrote to the Corinthians in his first book (10:13) he said: No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. But God is faithful who will not allow you to go through temptation beyond what you can bear. But with every temptation, God will also provide a way of escape so that you may stand up under it. At first sight it appears that Paul has three points. But they are four things here.
All temptation is common. It is nothing new. If we are going through it someone else has been through it already. The very professor who has asked for so much of you has been through the same things as he/ she is putting you through. They managed. So will you and I. Besides, we are not the first. And neither shall we be the last.
Above all, we have Almighty God. He is the overall Master of Ceremonies. He does not let us go through temptation of a magnitude that we are unable to handle so that neither of these aspects is greater or lesser than the other. Our God does not only know us and out capacities. He also knows our circumstances. And He matches them. If we are overwhelmed He will grant us respite. If we are underwhelmed He will grant us extra challenges. If we are complacent He will shake up a few things so we will remember to look up to him. If God is in control, why should God's children worry? Our God carefully specifies the parameters of our trials.
Additionally, God supervises the means of dealing with temptation. With every temptation, God provides the means of escape. It is not escapism, which is simply weak and fearful of challenges. But if there is an overwhelming setting, God provides for our escape. From the fires of our life, God provides an escape route. While He is able to stop them burning down all our life's earnings, He sometimes chooses to make us start anew. Now, don't ask me why God does that, because I don't know. But that does not make him any less of God or any less deserving of praise and worship from you and me. Escape that God provides is necessary for our salvation. If He shows us an escape route, we do well to take it.
But there is more to this verse! God provides an escape route so that we may be able to stand up under the temptation! Even if it might not go away, like that of Job, God enables us to stand up under it. After all , it is the one who stands that wins. If we are tired and spent at the end of the day, but we have done well, then so be it! We have won still. And we do this because God has done so through and within us. He provides an escape route so we can stand up under the same temptation from which we sought to run away. In the power of God we can stand. Let us stand up, then, for our Lord Jesus in the power that God provides.
Praying for a good semester! May God's blessings rest upon you and all yours.
Robert Magoola
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