When a high school football team has a history of championships, the guys work hard to get a starting position. They spend a lot of time in the weight room, because they realize that it is the best place to lift.
The coach is there to see who's working hard and there are also spotters there—guys who stand by while you're lifting to help get the bar off of you in case you lift more than you can handle.
Sometimes, though, guys want to do their lifting when there isn't anybody around. They try to increase the amount they can bench press all alone. It's not smart to be pushing it when there's no one there to help. All of that weight can come down on top of you, leaving you trapped under what you thought you could lift.
1 Corinthians 10:12-13 of God's Word says, "If you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall! 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 is this: Do not underestimate temptation, and don't overestimate your strength.
We can get trapped and almost crushed because of a common miscalculation: "I can handle it." 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 us. Maybe you've already been crushed or trapped by a sin or weakness and you're carrying the guilt, the shame, the weight, that sense of defeat, and the consequences. Worst of all, you just can't seem to stop. It's like you're a prisoner.
Maybe right now you're playing with a compromise, with some wrong thinking, and you're saying, "I can handle it." You have friends you think you can handle without being like them. You're involved in some physical intimacy that you say you can control. Do you know how many people have lost what they always intended to keep that way?
Maybe you're flirting with someone and thinking, even as a married person, "Hey, I'm just playing around. I can handle it." 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. That's why 1 Corinthians 10:12 says, "If you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall!" That arrogance is going to hurt you.
2 Timothy 2:22 says, "Flee the evil desires of youth." 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. Wherever you are with that temptation, whether you're playing with it or a prisoner to it, it will never be easier to beat it than it is today.
Admit you can't handle it. Give the battle to Jesus. Then choose your exit before you get anywhere close to it. 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 to warn you not to try it. Listen to His warning and avoid the pain of ending up trapped under what you thought you could handle.