I recently read this blog post by Nate Pyle about confronting the lie that God won’t give you more than you can handle. All I have to say to this is AMEN!
I get so irritated by that trite NON-Biblical saying. Life will dish out way more than you can take. It’s life. It happens. And it happens to absolutely everyone at one time or another. No matter your age, race, religion. No matter what country or city you live it. Crap happens. Sometimes it’s deep crap.
I can tell you with certainty that it happens because I’ve been treading in the deep crap end of the pool for months and months. I haven’t loved the trials and struggles. I have hated every single minute of the struggle. No disrespect to the Apostle Paul, but rejoicing in trials is not my thing.
But even though I have hated every minute of this season, I have been learning a lot about myself, what I believe, and about who God really is. Even in this season of struggle, I have peace. When you receive letters from your mortgage company threatening foreclosure and your phone rings off the hook with collection calls, peace is a precious commodity. All I can say is that I would not have made it this far without Jesus and the peace He gives.
“I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.”- John 14:27 NLT
I have peace even though there is absolutely nothing I can do to fix this situation by myself. I need a miracle. It’s pretty much the only answer to my situation right now. So I am praying for a miracle and trusting that God is with me in this mess that is more than I can handle.
The other thing that irritates me is when people say, “So where’s your good God now?” Um. Same place He’s always been. Right here with me. Loving me. Believing in me and rooting me on. I may not understand or know why, but I do know that I am not alone. And for now that is what I choose to focus on. To focus on the fact that I am loved nor am I alone. For that I am grateful.
I have days where I lose it and I whine and cry and eat whole pints of ice cream. I know ice cream doesn’t help, but it’s ice cream. What does help me when my focus is centered on how much my life is sucking at the moment is remembering Job. He went through about 9 months of trial and sickness, So I read the book of Job. But not the whole book. Not the parts where his friends try to explain why this is happening, when really they are more clueless than Job is. Nor the parts about what he lost or his suffering. I just read the end, chapters 38-40. It’s where God answers Job and Job gets to know God in a real and tangible way. It gives me hope to hang on for one more day and the peace squelches out my fear for that day.
If you’re swimming in the deep crap end with me, you don’t want to hear trite sayings. What you are going through sucks and I am sorry that you are hurting. I cannot fix it for you or tell you how long you’ll be there. I can tell you that you are loved. I can tell you that you are not alone. I am praying today for those who are suffering through a rough season of trials.
