God also promises that He is reachable and approachable and that He will be with us. Jesus says, in Matthew’s Gospel, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened,” [Matthew 7:7-8]. Our God is not some mysterious, aloof, far off, unreachable being! If we earnestly seek, we will find God. Again, from the book of Proverbs—Proverbs, chapter 8, verse 17: “I love them that love Me. And those that seek Me early shall find Me.”

Moreover, God even promises His presence with us. Here is a familiar passage, once again, from Matthew—Matthew 18, verse 20. Jesus said, “But where two or three are gathered together in MY name, there am I in the midst of them.” And again, in Matthew, Jesus, with His final instructions to His apostles before He ascends back to heaven—Matthew 28, verse 20—says, “…teaching men to observe ALL things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you ALWAYS, even unto the end of the world—(to the end of the age).” The Lord promises to be our CONSTANT companion. How can we be lonely, how can we be blue, how can we be sad…when we have the Lord as our companion?

God also promises to keep us from being overpowered by Satan. Listen! “There hath no temptation given you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful. He will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way of escape, that ye may be able to bear it,” 1 Corinthians 10, verse 13. [The New International Version of the Bible says, “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. 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 stand up under it.”]

This is important for us to understand. First, God has limited Satan’s ability to affect us. I didn’t say that God has put us “off limits” to Satan. But God has put parameters around how Satan can tempt us, and what he can do to us. I always think of the story of Job when I think about this particular passage. God told Satan, yes, he could work on Job. He said…well, He first told Satan that whatever he did, he couldn’t affect Job’s body. Then the second time around, God said, you can affect Job’s body, but you cannot kill him. And so, even today, God has put limits on Satan’s power to affect us.

In the Army, in times of war, we have “Rules of Engagement.” And I suggest to you that God has put “Rules of Engagement” on Satan. But even having set these “Rules of Engagement”—these parameters—upon Satan, God still will not permit us to be tempted above our ability to endure. And He knows our limit. He knows our ability to endure.

And one more thing. When we are tempted, God will provide a way of escape—a trap door—an “escape hatch,” if you will permit me to say it that way.