By Myrna Brito

A couple of weeks ago, on my way back to my desk from lunch, I took a tumble. I was stepping off of the curb and didn’t notice that there was a pretty big crack in the concrete. I really thought when I took the step that I was far enough outside of the crack to avoid a full fall. And then, as I was going down, I thought to myself, Nope you’re going down. Needless to say, I jumped right back up, not because I was embarrassed, although that thought came later to me. It was more about being right in the middle of a busy crosswalk where cars tear around the corner and are not very careful. I was concerned about what would happen if I stayed down on the ground. I walked across the street, slightly limping, and realized that I had a pretty nasty road rash on my knee. It has taken some time for the scab to heal and I still have some slight discomfort in my ankle where I hit the concrete. The fall itself was quick, but the aftermath has taken some time to get through.

I was reminded last week of my fall when someone asked for John and I to pray for a loved one that had fallen into sin. I thought, can you really fall into sin? Is there something that we can do to avoid falling? I imagined a big giant pit and thought, is it really possible that someone would fall without noticing something so obvious? I read the following scripture, and the pieces began to come together.

I Corinthians 10:12-13 says, “If you think you are standing strong, be careful not to fall.¹³ The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.” (NLT)

Thinking that we are standing strong and having the false sense that we are not at any risk of being tempted is a dangerous thing. For some this may mean that we drop our guard and expose ourselves to tempting situations. But there is also the risk of being so spiritually prideful that we believe that we are above any temptation.

As I was reading this scripture, it took me back to my fall and I realized that I saw the big crack in the concrete but I was pretty confident that I could step close enough into it that I would be able to catch myself if I began to fall. The idea that I can get so close to a tempting situation and still be able to catch myself is so false. The subtle ways that temptation comes into our lives can catch us by surprise and the consequences can cause pain and so much guilt and regret.

The Apostle Paul provides us with so much hope when he wrote, “And God is faithful.” There is a period at the end of that statement. He then goes on to remind us that because God is faithful he will not allow the temptation to be more than we can stand, showing us a way out. If he is going to show me a way out that means that he is going to stick close to me and I should stay attentive to his voice to lead me.

I really wish that I had not had to fall to have this wonderful life lesson. The reality is that I am a bit of a klutz, and it had actually been a while since I had a fall of some sort. I am glad that in this particular fall God was able to use it to show me that indeed it is possible to fall into sin, and I need to avoid temptation and stay away from the cracks in the concrete.

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