Day 442 - August 31 - More than we can handle?

I've had a number of people say something to me over the last 15 months or so that, after it percolated in my brain for a while, has now risen into my consciousness in the form of a question. The thing that these well-meaning, caring people have said is the sentiment "Well, God must trust you a lot to give your family this burden. But remember, He'll never give you more than you can handle".

Well, OK. I've been pondering that idea now for a couple of months, and I'm not so sure it lines up with my understanding of God. That's not to say that I understand God, mind you - but I don't think the statement is true, even though it sounds very God-minded. Let's break it apart and you'll see what I'm saying -

First, let's look at "God trusts me/us a lot to give us this burden". I don't really have much to offer with this statement, except that I don't think God has a very high regard for my level of faithfulness. His standard is pretty high, after all! Seriously, even the most passionate follower of Christ has moments of doubt and question; times when they fall away or shrink back from the task; every believer this side of the grave does that at one time or another, and that, in comparison to God's faithfulness, displays a woeful lack of integrity. Remember the words of "Great is Thy Faithfulness"? "There is no shadow of turning in Thee". Gee, I'm full of the shadow of turning! Now I might try to reason it away - "it was only for a little while" - but my mind's turning has the same character as a fireman who, when expected to hold the blanket as the victim jumps to safety, decides that this is the time to do something else for a while. It's a serious thing to not be constant, and yet I am inconstant all the time! So I don't think God "trusts" me at all, since He already knows the depths of my betrayal to Him and yet loves me anyway. As well, the concept of God trusting us to carry a heavy load goes contrary to Scripture in 2 Corinthians 12:9, where Paul, after pleading to have the thorn in his flesh removed, is told "My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness".

Let's take a look at that, because it ties directly into the second part of the original statement - "He'll never give you more than you can handle" -

Let's say that I ask you to come over and help us move out of the house, and when you get here I show you a refrigerator and ask you to get it into the truck. Now, you're a strapping young lad (at least in this story), you've got reasonably-sized muscles and a hand truck - you can do this job. So you try, but the refrigerator won't move. All your strength won't budge this refrigerator. So finally, after struggling for a while, you finally give in and call me to help. So I come back out and help move the refrigerator, and the job is done.

Now that's an imperfect word picture, but it's the best I can come up with to demonstrate the idea that no matter how strong you are, there's something out there that puts you into the "not strong enough" category. It's probably different for every person, just like all of us can pick up a bag of sugar, but fewer of us can move a television set, and only the strongest could pull a locomotive down the track - but even the strongman would become "not strong enough" when it came to moving a trestle bridge or an aircraft carrier.

But that still doesn't quite touch where I'm going with this. God's strength isn't made perfect in being just a bit more powerful than our own massive best efforts, it's made perfect in weakness. And weakness - true weakness, not a false modesty just to hide our own ego - involves recognition of our powerlessness. Imagine, back in our moving day scenario, taking a look at the big refrigerator and being able to accurately assess it and say "ain't no way by myself". Or imagine swaggering up to the refrigerator with an "I've got this" attitude, dusting your hands and preparing to lift a refrigerator without any preparation or assessment (by the way, I've filled it up with old copies of National Geographic to make it more difficult). The first person recognizes their very real limitations, while the second denies their own reliance on another.

So, to come back to "He won't give you more than you can handle" - I think He very specifically gives people more, 'waaaay more, than they can handle. If you can handle everything that comes your way in life, what need you of a Saviour? If you can safely deal with all of life's torments without God, how well do you demonstrate God's power instead of yours? And if you can deal with everything that comes your way, how do you then come to know God's grace? This experience is far more than anyone can handle, and if I told you differently I'd be lying.

We walk this road, and I tell you clearly - we cannot do it. We cannot handle this life, this burden, this pain. We will fail to successfully navigate the minefield that's been laid out for us. But we can; we attempt; and we do trust that God will see us through this. He will sustain Connor, He will sustain our marriage, He will sustain and perfect our lives in this trial. Not because we can handle it, but because we cannot. That's where His strength is made perfect, when ours is set aside as incapable.

Now, how's Connor? He's OK - better sats on Friday night, but a tougher night Saturday. Sunday morning we wrestled with congested lungs and pain, but he rested better last night and slept most of it without interruption. Yesterday afternoon we managed to get out of the house and take a drive over the mountains to visit with Allie and her family for a couple of hours. That went really well, and all of us enjoyed getting to know them and their friends better, particularly in a non-hospital setting. I think Connor is an encouragement to Allie, and we all certainly enjoyed the time we spent there.

Cherié is still hurting, and I've got to go back to work today, so be praying for them. They have a much harder challenge than I do, and so I appreciate your continued prayers for them. Thank you so much.

E.

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