My daughter Evie loves escape rooms. She has designed escape rooms at our house for her friends. She has been to more than 20 of them. Whenever we are in a new place, she asks us to look one up and go to it. One time we went to an escape room in Sacramento and failed to escape so we went back the next day because she was so driven to prove we could get out.
In an escape room, you are trying to get out. Some get out and some don’t. Those who get out do so because of their savviness or intellect. You have to earn your way out of an escape room.
Sometimes we think we must earn or work our way out of temptation, that the rules have been set and it is on us to figure our way out. But we have received a much better promise.
So, whoever thinks he stands must be careful not to fall. No temptation has come upon you except what is common to humanity. But God is faithful; he will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to bear it. So then, my dear friends, flee from idolatry. (1 Corinthians 10:12-14, emphasis added)
None of us are above falling and all of us will be tempted. When it comes to temptation, we don’t earn our way out. God promises a way out. He has not built this life as an elaborate room where we have to crack a bunch of codes to get out of our folly or get out of the way of our own foolishness. He wants us out, and He promises to provide a way out.
Surely our joy would be more full if when faced with temptation we looked for the way out or asked God to help us see the way out.
When you are tempted to enter a conversation filled with slander, there is a way out. When you are tempted to gaze upon impurity, there is a way out. When you are tempted to make a decision that violates integrity, there is a way out. When you are tempted to walk in the advice of the wicked, stand in the pathway with sinners, or sit in the company of mockers, there is a way out.
It may be saying “no” to the invitation, turning off the computer, ending a conversation, or walking away from an opportunity, but there is a way out. When we are in the midst of temptation, we have a way out. We have been promised one.
