Has God ever given you a “way of escape?”

In the book of James, God tells us that when we are tempted to sin, God will mercifully give us an opportunity to run far from it before we make a choice that we will later regret. In the book of Second Samuel, chapter 11, King David was given just such an opportunity.

You know the story; the king was walking on his wall in the evening and saw a beautiful woman bathing. At this point, David had at least eight wives and 10 concubines that we know of, but when he caught a glimpse of somebody new, he didn’t look away.

Instead, David sent someone to find out about her.

Here’s where the “way of escape” came in. The messenger who reported back to David was very clear about two things: This woman was married, and she was married to David’s friend.

Those two facts should have been enough to convince the king to shut down whatever schemes he had in his mind concerning the beautiful young lady that he had seen while walking on the wall. If only David had taken that way out! So many things would have been different for the king if only he had paid attention to the warning that God was obviously sending him.

Here is the thing. We should be ever grateful for the warnings that God sends us when we are about to sin and pray that we recognize them for what they are. If we don’t, we will certainly regret it, just as David did. On the other hand, when we take God’s way of escape and resist temptation, the Bible tells us that the devil will “flee far from us.” (James 4:7)

That, my friend, is true freedom.