“Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. 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 10:12,13)
We are tempted every day. Our whole marketing system is based on temptation. Every sales pitch places a seed of dissatisfaction which then dangles a tempting solution in front of us. Temptation is something that we must always be on the alert for or it will catch us with our guard down. It is especially effective on those who think they are beyond temptation. Those who think they are exempt are those who are most likely to take a fall. 
The builders of the Titanic were not prepared for disaster, because they didn’t think disaster could befall them. The tragedy was that they were not prepared for tragedy, and it resulted in an even greater tragedy.
The thought that we will be faced with temptation might be depressing, but today’s verse can prepare us and encourage us for what will be the inevitable. Of course, being tempted is not the same as falling to temptation. Jesus was tempted in the desert and in the garden and he remained strong. What he did with the temptation is what we are to do. We are not to succumb to it, but defeat it. It is a war within us, but it is a war that can be won.
I am reading a civil war series by the great historian Shelby Foote. He tells of a soldier who was wounded at the battle of Shiloh and was ordered to go to the rear. The fighting was fierce and within minutes he returned to his commanding officer. “Captain, give me a gun!” he shouted. “This fight ain’t got no rear!” 
The fight against temptation has no rear, no matter where we go it rages on and we must be aware and we must prepare.
First of all, Paul tells us in today’s verse that whatever we are tempted with, it is common to man. As much as we would like to say our situation is different, it is not. We will not be the first to be tempted in that way and we will not be the last. Satan uses the feeling that our situation is different, to lure us in. We arrive at the conclusion that our situation is unique, that no one else can possibly understand our plight. We believe that no one else has the excuses that we have to explain our behavior. But excuses are not reasons. If our spouse puts on a couple of pounds, it does not make it legitimate to look around at others a little more slowly. There is a story about a man and wife who were walking through the mall and a shapely young woman in a short, form-fitting dress strolled by. The 
man’s eyes followed her. Without looking up from the item she was examining, the wife asked, “Was the stare worth the trouble you’re in?” Never is giving into temptation worth the trouble it will get us into. If we realize we are not alone in temptation, we will be strengthened and will also feel more free to ask others for help in the dilemma. Remember, we are not alone in our struggles.
Secondly, God is faithful. The Greek word, “pistos” which is translated as “faithful” in the verse above means “worthy to be believed, trustworthy.” So God is trustworthy. We can believe that He will do what He says He will. There may be many ways to fight the battle of temptation, but one of the best might be cowardice. Not cowardice in the way we usually interpret it, but cowardice in that we flee from temptation just like Joseph did. When we flee from it, we should not leave a forwarding address. Instead, we need to enlist God in our battle of temptation. If we think we are strong enough to handle it on our own, we will fail. Only with God’s help can we win. 
He sits immediately behind us waiting to be pulled to the front to take on the enemy with His power and strength. It is tag-team match and once we let Him in the ring, He will not tag out to us. He is there to stay.
The third thing we should notice from today’s verse is that we will not be tempted beyond what we can bear. God knows us better than we know us. He knows how much testing we can take. It is said that when we are in the oven, God watches us with one hand on the temperature gauge and one hand on the timer. He knows how much we can take and how long we can take it. He will never give us more than we can bear. Sometimes we might break, but that is not because it it too much, but because we fought too little. We are all temptable, but only when we allow ourselves to fall for the con, will we become contemptable.
Fourth, with every temptation, God will provide a way out. We have an escape route for every conceivable temptation we could ever possibly experience. Sometimes He has provided an escape that we don’t even know about. He saves us in spite of ourselves. In other cases, he will have an exit door with a flashing sign above it making the escape very clear. There is an old joke I have used several times in my long career. If someone says he has broken his arm in two places. I tell them not to go to those places. One of the best things we can do to keep God from having to give us exits, is not to go certain places in the first place. 
Avoiding temptation is our way of making God’s job easier. It is easier to suppress the first desire than to fulfill all those which follow it.
The most encouraging thing is that God is on our side. He wants us to walkin victory over sin and temptation, and he is there, ready and willing to assist us. We will be tempted, but we need not lose. God will guide us, help us and protect us if we allow Him to. He has withstood temptations and He will stand with us against them, as well.