More than you can handle...
You know the saying God will never give you more than you can handle? I used to live by the saying. It came flowing out of my mouth anytime there was trouble or I wanted to bring peace and healing to a heart I saw was struggling. But as I get older and as I grow in my relationship with the Lord I started to realize this statement just simply wasn’t true. It completely undermines the reality of the relationship God longs for with us. Yes He will give you more than you can handle. It’s hard for us to wrap our minds around this because our God is one that we put in a bubble and want to believe will protect us from all things unwanted and uncomfortable. When we experience hard times the first thing we do is pray for God to take them away quickly so that we can get back to our lives and He can take his place comfortably on the sidelines. It kind of stings the soul to state that so directly but that’s the truth isn’t it? It seems that we lean into God when we seek healing and comfort that only He can provide. But it’s in the times of quiet and still when our lives seem to be going smoothly that our God, the almighty powerful and never failing God, gets put second string. And then the hard things come. Illness, marital strife, stubborn kids, money… And there we are on our knees praying and begging for him to magically show up and fix everything. Then we repeat to ourselves that old saying God will never give us more than we can handle. Oh honey if only this was true. Let me tell you I have been humbled by our mighty God more times than I care to mention. He has allowed me to be broken and to reap what I have sown when it was not a part of His plan. I tell you what. Those things, I could not handle on my own. And do you know who allowed me to experience hardship? My Almighty redeemer and Savior. Oh yes He did. Sometimes we get too big for our britches. We may not like feeling the pain of the sting that comes along with this thing called life. But how humbling and how beautiful is it that our God loves us enough to give us those things that are heavy even if only to have the chance to hit our knees and thank Him for his goodness. His love is a love that comes to us as sinners that are not worthy of His sacrifice. Yet he allows us to come to Him and our deepest moments when all of the things that we have taken on are so heavy and ask Him to walk beside us and help us as we navigate through it all. What an amazing love He has for his children. He deserves to sit in peace and be admired and worshiped for all of eternity. Yet He chooses to walk alongside of us and help our small minds makes sense of these things he uses to shape our eternity. So thank you Lord for the hard things. For the heavy things. For the things that I cannot handle. Thank you for allowing me to come to You knowing that in my struggles I am not alone. You are a lamp into my feet and the light that guides my soul.
Love, Katie