A Way Of Escape

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t least once a week, someone will email me or ask me where I come up with the ideas for the Tidbits.  My response is always the same, I don't come up with them.  I can be in the car or taking a walk, or having a conversation and God will impress upon me how what I've seen or said or heard can be used as a Tidbit topic.  It always amazes me how God uses the smallest and simplest of things to teach me something about himself.  God, however, is like that, wanting us to know him better and using situations and circumstances to teach us if we are willing to learn.

For instance, how many times have you walked on a sidewalk and noticed the lines cut into the concrete?  As kids, we used to play games using the divisions in the sidewalks to mark off boundaries of hop-scotch, for foul lines for basketball, and to designate an are as home base for various games we played.

As I grew older, I learned that the gaps in the sidewalk have a distinct purpose.  The lines are cut into concrete to allow its sections to expand and contract with the weather.  If you observe a sidewalk very closely, you will notice that the gaps between the segments of concrete will grow or shrink in size according to the outside temperature.  This expansion gaps are necessary and prevent the concrete from bucking up and cracking.

The Christian life works under the same principle.  There are expansion gaps in our spiritual life.  Sometimes it may appear that God is stretching us beyond all measure.  We may feel there is no way we can continue under the present circumstances. Any more pressure and we will just explode or crack.  At such times, it seems that God increases the pressure, demanding even more.  What happens is that we are being stretched, we are expanding, and the spiritual heat has been turned up.

However, when we reach our limits, and God knows what our limits are, he removes the pressure.  He understands how much we can take, he knows what we can accomplish, and he also knows the circumstances under which we do our best expanding and growing.  Yes, God has put expansion gaps in our relationship with him.  If we sit for too long in the cold, we will crack, if we have too much pressure, we will buckle and warp, but with the right amount of pressure, we expand, we grow, we stay in tact, and we serve a useful purpose for God.

I don't know where you are today in your walk with God.  However, I do know that he loves you and has only the best in mind for you.  If you feel you are being tested, tried, or if you are undergoing some temptation, take comfort from Paul's words to the Corinthians. "No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it." (1 Corinthians 10:13).  God places difficult trials and challenges into our lives.  He even allows us to be tempted because he trusts us!!!  How much does he trust you today?