“No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it. Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.”

1 Corinthians 10:13-14, NASB

What does idolatry have to do with people being tempted and God’s faithful keeping power? The short answer is that people are quickly attracted to the nonsense answers of life’s most pressing problems. Adam and Eve thought that fig leaves would cover their problem. Moses allowed his anger to rise to the surface instead of being a patient father to the people. A Jewish people have tried to please God by following regulations concerning food and drink. Basically we know that idols are useless inventions by humans. Perhaps the most shocking piece of idolatry in the modern era is the application of Jesus’s blood to anything other than transgression, sin and iniquity.

The foolishness of miraculous escape from temptation

Temptations are opportunities for us to become stronger in our trust of God’s grace. Temptations are not occasions for the use of miracle power. Whether we are hungry as the Lord was during his temptation by the devil, or whether we are being challenged in our seat as heirs of God as Jesus was when he was tempted by the devil, or whether we are being invited to worship someone of your vanguard, as Jesus was when he was tempted by the devil, neither idols or miracles are of effective use. Stop deceiving yourself. Endurance is not miraculous; it is spiritual fruit, and the engagement of our minds with our faithful God.