Day 11. When it's more than we can handle.
We've all heard that sweet saying, "God never gives you more than you can handle". But I have come to wonder about this. It sounds so nice and safe by worldly standards, but is that the God we serve?
Sometimes, I have found, it is more than we can "handle". Can anyone really "handle" a terminal diagnosis? Or the news that their child is dead? Or the pain of abuse? Or even the day to day struggles that we all face? Can we really "handle" anything?
We are given more than we can handle all the time. So what happens then? What happens when you are given more than you can "handle"? What happens when your life seems to be crumbling all around you and people keep telling you that you can handle it because "God doesn't give us more than we can handle". What then?
That is where the beauty of our relationship with Christ comes into play.
I want you to take a moment to navigate from this page and read a blog post written by an incredibly faithful woman who is dying of cancer.
http://www.mundanefaithfulness.com/home/2015/2/10/if-i-tried
I read this this morning and immediately my wheels began to turn. I realized as I read, that this journey Kara is on is WAY more than she can handle. But thankfully we are not called to handle the pain that life has in store, we are only called to trust in our savior's goodness and let him take the wheel.
I don't want to believe that I am never given more than I can handle. That is meaningless to me. I want to be given more than I can handle constantly so that I am always in need of Christ in the deepest way possible. I don't ever want to fool myself into believing that I can "handle" it without Him.
-Psalm 23:4-
"Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me."
Thank you for spelling it out! This saying has become one of my pet peeves. I love your take on it.
ReplyDeleteLizz, this is amazing. I love this line you wrote, "I want to be given more than I can handle constantly so that I am always in need of Christ in the deepest way possible." It's so hard to want challenges and trials in our life because it takes us way outside our comfort zones but they are absolutely necessary to have that deep trust in Christ and close relationship with Him. Thanks for your inspiring writing, Lizz!
ReplyDelete