Changing Lanes

Recently, I made the mistake of hitting my local grocery store after work.  It was packed.  Traffic jam by the bananas, three cart pile up at the milk refrigerators, register lines backed up to the bread aisle.  What a mess.  My plan was to do a quick in-and-out and be home in 10 minutes, but one look at the checkout lanes and I knew my plans we irrelevant.  I was in for a wait.  I picked a lane at random and settled in to wait my turn.  While I waited, a gentleman came and stood behind me and I was quickly made aware that he was not in the mood to wait.  He shuffled impatiently back and forth sighing heavily.  He was muttering, complaining and constantly craning his neck to see what everyone else was doing.  He waited behind me for perhaps two minutes and decided he’d had enough.  He changed lanes to the one next to us.  Soon, he became impatient there and moved one more over.  As I was placing my few groceries on the belt, I became aware of a commotion in the lane chosen by Mr. Impatient Pants.  He was loudly vocalizing his displeasure because the cashier was doing a price check for another customer. He was so worked up!  I couldn’t help but smile as I breezed by him on my way out of the store.  If he had only waited, he would be on his way out as well instead stranded two people back from the promised land of checking out.

We are all familiar with the Exodus and the Israelites circling Mt. Sinai as God dealt with their idolatrous hearts and impatient spirits.  Every rebellion of heart and work of their own hands simply added to the amount of time spent in the wilderness as God refined them in preparation to receive His promises.  I wonder how often in my walk with Jesus do I miss the “promised land” because I become impatient and change lanes.  We all know that waiting is difficult and the difficulty multiplies exponentially depending on the intensity you wish for something to happen.  I am well aware that when I become impatient, I am tempted to crane my neck and look at what everyone else is doing with their lives and what they have in comparison to myself.  Many times I am tempted to alter my course to generate activity or murmur and complain because things are just not working out the way I think they should.  I say to myself, "Why is this taking so long?! Why am I wasting my time here?!"  I have made the mistake of trying to get what I want by jumping lanes and attempting to hustle God along to my envisioned promised land only to wind up stranded at the base of Mt. Sinai while I learn my lesson.  Reminds me of the old song:    

 Go on and . . . take another lap around Mt. Sinai
‘Til you learn your lesson
‘Til you stop your whining and you quit your rebellin’
‘Til you learn to stand in your day of testin’
By trustin’ and obeyin’ the Lord.

The Word of God lays forth the truth of God’s promises and I have learned that He keeps them.  God has never let me down and His ways are infinitely better than mine.  My way leaves me frustrated, confused and depleted.  His way leaves me to peace, fulfillment and contentment.  Why chose chaos when you can have peace?    

“I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living!  Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD!”

-Psalm 27:13-14

No matter what season of life I am in, I continue to learn that the lane God has me in right now is the best one for me, and that there is nothing “over there” that will be better.  Waiting on God is never wasted time.

 

 

The "Never More Than You Can Handle" Fallacy

Last weekend, I was sharing with a Christian friend some painful and perplexing challenges that I have been going through.  In an effort to encourage me they said, “God never gives you more than you can handle.”  To which I promptly said, “Who told you that?!  That is not true! Show me where it says that in the Bible!” (I have never claimed to be subtle!) My friend argued that it was in the bible and went on to quote 1 Corinthians 10:13:

"No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it."

I told them (kindly, I promise) that they are taking the verse out of context and that Paul is referring to temptation…not trials. It just doesn't make sense for it to be anything else.  It seems contradictory to what I have understood the Christian life to be. The Bible is full of people who can't handle what is coming at them-Paul included! Is this not the same guy who wrote;

"Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure." 2 Corinthians 11: 24-27

Sounds like more than anyone could handle!  But Paul also wrote;

 "More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us." Romans 5:3-5

Perhaps you think me unkind or too blunt, but I am passionate about this subject.  I have seen too many of my beloved friends bowled over by suffering, pain and loss.  I have sat with friends who literally could not pull themselves off the floor because the pain was so unbearable.  I have sat helplessly on the phone and listened to people I love weep uncontrollably because they are so desolate. I myself have been so aggrieved and wracked with suffering and sorrow that I became sick and dehydrated from crying so much.  Why?  Because my life was more than I could handle.  God, the director of my life, had opened the door and allowed more than I could handle to enter.

But, I am in good company.

Job: Lost his children, his wealth and health.  His wife was a jerk and his friends were judgmental. More than he could handle? 

Abraham: Called by God to sacrifice his beloved son as an act of obedience.  More than he could handle?

Mary, the mother of Jesus: Stood by and watched her precious Son be crucified and die. More than she could handle?

David: Pursued relentlessly by Saul for 4 years and forced to live the life of a fugitive-more than he could handle?

Jesus: Carried the weight of mankind's sin and died on a cross to save us all-more than He could handle?

I don’t know about you, but until I learned the truth of God’s sovereignty and the incorrectness of the “more than we can handle” line of thinking, I honestly thought there was something wrong with me for feeling so overwhelmed and strung out!  I would question myself and my relationship with God because I knew I was experiencing far more than I could handle! I thought I lacked genuine faith.  But this is simply not true.  I love God, I know Him and I serve Him and I am most definitely given more than I can handle.  All. The. Time.  I know I am not the only one, and I want to encourage all of us who suffer or know someone who is suffering to stop falling back on clichés and instead focus on the truth of God’s word to us. 

I now know that God does allow more than we can handle to come into our lives but He can enable us to endure. He gives us strength. He has promised He would never leave us. Never forsake us. Bless our perseverance. He said He would give us joy in the midst of suffering, and perfect us through our sorrows. Check out these verses; they are just a few of the dozens upon dozens of verses in the Bible relating to suffering and God's view on the matter. 

"Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name. ..."   1 Peter 4:12-19

"Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." James 1:2-4

"For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us." Romans 8:18

It says in Psalm 119:68 "You are good and do good!"  Did you catch that? God is only ever able to do good!  There is no "shadow of turning" in Him, He is simply incapable of doing anything with malicious intent or ulterior motives! I can trust Him when He says,

"And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you." 1 Peter 5:10

I have hope that God is making me who He wants me to be. I am thankful that he uses the painful trials and circumstances to draw me closer to Him and challenge me to go deeper, dig in and know him more. I am so blessed to know there is a greater purpose at work.   There will always be "more than I can handle" moments, but I trust my Jesus and my Lord to always do what's best for me. I pray this is true for you as well.