The Two-Minute Storm
I lived in Honduras during the summer between my junior and senior year of college. I was still very much battling a porn addiction at the time, but I had gone longer than usual without watching any porn. Looking back now, I realize it was just because I was keeping busy. I was too busy to watch porn. I wasn’t actually pursuing healing. So one night when I was home alone, after a long, emotional day, I decided to watch porn.
I took out my phone, opened Safari, and the moment I started typing into the search bar, a massive storm hit. The wind speeds were outrageous, knocking down trees and ripping billboards right out of the ground. The rain was heavy, and the thunder shook the apartment building. It lasted for about two minutes, just enough time for a tree to fall on the power line, shutting off our power. Without power, we didn’t have WiFi. Without WiFi, I didn’t have internet access. My roommate knocked on the door to make sure I was okay. Little did she know, I was more than okay thanks to that short but violent storm that took away my access to porn.
This is what I image when I think about the verse 1 Corinthians 10:13:
“No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.”
I wrestled with this verse for years. There were many moments, sometimes multiple times a day, when the temptation felt so strong that I didn’t feel like I had a choice but to watch porn. If I didn’t watch porn, I would be stuck thinking about it and not be able to get anything else done. I would sit there like, “God, where you at??" I wanted another storm. I wanted someone to knock on my door. I wanted God to provide a way out like He promised in this verse!
It is no question that God wants us to choose Him. He has given us free will for that very reason. He wants us to love Him and desire a relationship with Him. He doesn’t want to control us or be the dictator over our lives, so He gave us free will. But with free will comes the ability to choose God or choose sin.
If God gave us a two-minute storm or a roommate knocking on our door every single time we were tempted by any and all sin, we wouldn’t be choosing Him. We would simply be altering our decisions based on our circumstances. So the moment He chooses not to sound the thunder or send that person at just the right time, we will most likely choose to sin.
So does that mean God lied in this verse? Absolutely not! God doesn’t lie. He is faithful to provide a way out, but this doesn’t always look like an outward force preventing us from watching porn.
“But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” (John 14:26)
As followers of Jesus, we have the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit dwells within us and gives us the strength to overcome temptation. It allows us to know and understand the Word of God, His Truth, His commandments. It gives us peace and comfort and conviction, and it helps us delight in the ways of the Lord.
This is our way out.
Let’s look at that final sentence again: “But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.”
The verse doesn’t end with, “he will also provide a way out.” It ends with, “so that you can endure it.”
Look at these definitions of the word endure:
“Suffer (something painful or difficult) patiently” (Oxford Languages)
“To remain firm under suffering or misfortune without yielding” (Merriam-Webster)
“To support adverse force or influence of any kind; suffer without yielding; suffer patiently” (Dictionary.com)
The good news? God is faithful to give us all that we need, that is the Holy Spirit, to suffer patiently and remain firm without yielding to our sin when temptation comes.
The not-so-fun news? We may have to endure it longer than we’d like.
So whether God sends a freak two-minute storm to knock down a power line and cut off your access to pornography, or you have to grit your teeth and fall on your knees crying out the name of Jesus for an entire day, these are both examples of God being His oh so faithful self and providing a way out of temptation so that we can endure it.