Thursday, May 18, 2006
Our local high school football team has a history of championships and the guys work very hard to get a starting position. One of the things they do is spend a lot of time in the weight room. Our two sons played for that team and, I'll tell you, you have to be in that weight room a lot. The coach is watching. Of course, the weight room is the best place to lift. For one thing, of course, the coach sees you there and he knows you're working hard and that's what coaches like.
You also have spotters there - those are the guys who stand by you while you're lifting to help lift that bar off you just in case you get in trouble because you've lifted more than you could handle. That's what Chris was missing that day. See, Chris had a weight bench in his basement and he didn't have anybody around, but he wanted to do his lifting, and he was trying to increase the amount that he could bench press all alone. It's not smart to be pushing it when there's no one there to help, and he lost it and all that weight came down on top of him. So, Chris is there struggling, and finally he was able to roll it off of him. Naturally, he was pretty lucky because he escaped with just a few bruises, but some guys have actually gotten badly hurt that way. If you're not careful, you could end up trapped under what you thought you could lift.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The 'I Can Handle it' Trap."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from 1 Corinthians 10:11-12. Here's what it says, "If you think you are standing firm, be careful that you do not fall." Verse 13, "No 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." If there's a message in those verses, it's this: Don't underestimate temptation and don't overestimate your strength. Chris, our friendly weightlifter, got trapped and he was almost crushed because of a very common miscalculation. "Hey, I can handle it!" But when it comes to temptation, the devil loves it when you think like that. The words, "I can handle this" usually come right before the devil really pins you.
Maybe you've already been crushed; you've been trapped by some sin or a weakness and you carried the guilt and the shame, and the weight. Sooner or later you reap the consequences. Worst of all, you can't seem to stop it. It's like you're a prisoner or maybe right now you're playing with a compromise. You're playing with some wrong thinking and you're saying, "Hey, I can handle this." Maybe you're involved with some physical intimacy, and you're saying, "Aw, I can control this."
Do you know how many people have lost what they always intended to keep with that kind of thinking? Maybe you're flirting - literally flirting with someone and thinking even as a married person, "Hey, I'm just playing around. I can handle it." Maybe there're some compromises you're making with the truth and it's actually deceiving you. You think, "Oh, I can stop this any time." You're hanging around the edges of sin. You're saying, "Well, just a little." You don't ever expect to end up trapped or pinned or hurt. Neither did Chris and he was. That's why 1 Corinthians 10:12 says, "You think you're standing firm, be careful you don't fall." That arrogance can kill you. 2 Timothy 2:22 says, "Flee sinful desires." It doesn't say resist them. It says avoid them. The devil never tells you where he's going to take you until it's too late. So, what's the strategy? Admit that you can't handle it. Give that temptation battle to Jesus and choose your exit.
God promised there would always be a way of escape. Choose your exit before you get anywhere close to that temptation. You've underestimated the power of sin to trap you. Don't be a victim of the "I can handle it" trap. You can't handle it, and the Lord has come running into your weight room right now to warn you not to try it. Listen to his warning and avoid the pain of ending up trapped by what you thought you could handle.