The promise is hopeful.  We do not have to endure doubts, trials, or temptations that are new to the world.  The world has seen greed, lust, and sloth before.  People before us have trusted in God and overcome the desire to slide into destructive patterns of living.  This is helpful for me.  I sometimes think, “Screw it!  Why not just cut loose and go crazy!?”  I have learned patterns from my father shifting the goalposts, that sometimes you can never reach the goal.  God is not the same as my earthly father.  If I just look hard enough, there is a way forward without falling.  I just need to remember the implications of giving up and strive to stand firm.

1 Corinthians 10: 11-13

¹¹These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come. ¹²So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! ¹³No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.

Questions

1. Why did ‘these’ things happen and get written down?
2. What will you not be tempted beyond?
3. What should a Corinthian Christian be looking for when they are tempted?
4. What is tempting you right now?
5. How can you find a way out so that you can stand up under it?