“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 for your escape, that ye may be able to bear it.”
(1 Corinthians 10:13)
This verse has inspired me many a time during my life. I first learned it in seminary. I remember it so well because my teacher, Brother Skidmore, brought his guitar and put a melody to it. Thus, it is forever embedded in my mind with a country twang to it.
Its message is profound, especially at a time like this - well, especially ALWAYS I should say! Its promise is straightforward; God has allowed temptation (or replace that word with trial, sorrow, hardship, etc.) in our lives, but has also provided a way out, a way to bear it. Never will we find ourselves in a dark room with no way out – there is ALWAYS a key that, if used properly, will allow our “escape” from darkness into something brighter.
That key is Jesus Christ. It always has been, it always will be. Every religious thing we do, be it praying, reading holy texts, or participating in ordinances such as the sacrament, is all about Christ.
But we know this – if we’ve grown up in a Christian faith, we have known that all things point us to Christ, our Savior and Redeemer.
This then offers an interesting question that could use further insight – WHY does looking to Christ offer us that “escape” from temptation?
I’m confident that everyone has both a general and personal answer to this question, answers learned from religious study and also, possibly more importantly, from personal experience.
Knowing and remembering the answer to this “why” question is essential!
I learned the importance of knowing why in 6th grade. My teacher, Miss Larsen (I’m 90% sure that was her name) taught me a lesson that really changed my life. She had a passion for mathematics but emphasized the WHY behind it. WHY does multiplying fractions work the way it does? WHY do we use algebra? WHY do we use a coordinate plane with an x and y axis?
Seems like a rather silly lesson to change my life, but really it did! My love of math stems largely from that year in school, and anyone that knows me that my passion for math is a defining factor of my personality. That all began when I started to look at the “why” behind it all.
Now, that’s not to say it’s easy to determine the why. I still have no idea why two negative numbers multiplied together makes a positive – that seems quite counterintuitive. I suppose the reason is that “it makes everything work”. It’s a simple mathematical fact that I just have
to roll with I suppose. Also, imaginary numbers are quite a headscratcher for me and countless others – I have friends who started to hate math the moment they were taught imaginary numbers. Oh how I pity them!
And, my most perplexing difficulty with math has always been the infinite repetition of pi. With pi never ending, does that mean that no circle has a circumference that isn’t infinite as well? For instance, a circle with diameter 1 has a circumference of 1 * pi, which is 3.1415926535897932384626433…… And it goes on.
Okay, math tangent over. The idea I’m trying to get across is that yes, many “whys” are unknown and simply cannot be known at this time of our lives, or even in this life at all. BUT, an essential why that CAN and SHOULD be answered for ourselves is WHY does Christ offer the key to escape from sorrow?
Why is Christ the solution to finding peace during a pandemic?
Why is Christ the means to finding solace and acceptance when others have wronged us?
Why is Christ the answer to problems of doubt and despair?
Why is Christ the only way?
A few questions worth considering, questions I and countless others ask almost daily. The important thing to know is that they are questions with answers! And they are available for all of us to find!
I’m not going to pretend that I know all of these answers because, first, I’m young and inexperienced in a lot of ways and, second, the answers are different for everyone, dependent upon their individual mindsets and circumstances. That is why it is essential that we all seek for Christ individually.
A thought to end on from Dale G. Renlund:
“When we consider the goodness of our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, our trust in Them increases. Our prayers change because we know God is our Father and we are His children. We seek not to change His will but to align our will with His and secure for ourselves blessings that He wants to grant, conditioned on our asking for them. We yearn to be more meek, more pure, more steadfast, more Christlike. These changes qualify us for additional heavenly blessings.”
(Consider the Goodness and Greatness of God, April 2020)
A place to start for all of us is to consider God’s goodness in our personal lives, our families, and throughout history. From there, we can determine how we can access that goodness and power more abundantly in the future.
And thus, through that pattern of gratitude, reflection, learning and action continues, we find our “escape” from all bad things.
Love ya heaps!
Adam Simpson
Comments