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By: Dave Ebert
"God never gives you more than you can handle." Notinthere 3:16 NOT
The life of a Christ-follower is not meant to be, nor is it ever promised to be easy. Christ is very,
very clear that we will face persecution. The Word is very clear that we should count it joy and count it a blessing when we must suffer for the cause of Christ.
First, let's not fool ourselves into thinking that we all MUST die at the hands of persecutors in order to be counted as one who has suffered for Christ. Suffering for Christ may be as simple as dying to your personal fear of rejection in order to share the Gospel with someone. Suffering for Christ may be as simple as losing friends (in real life or on Facebook) by contending for the faith with the saved and unsaved alike (I have seen the Body turn on itself over a Facebook post...sadly).
Then again, dying at the hands of persecutors may be in your story. Only God knows.
The fact is, regardless of the level of, or the pain caused by, persecution, it will happen. Pastor James Ford of Chicago has been heard on his show on Moody Radio stating,
"If you haven't met the devil on your walk, it's because you're both heading in the same direction."
If you are not living for Christ, the devil has no need to come after you. Remember, persecution is not of the flesh because we are not fighting against humans, "but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." (Ephesians 6:12 NIV).
So, getting back to the 'scripture' cited at the open of this post...
"God never gives you more than you can handle." Notinthere 3:16 NOT
Usually, this is cited as a piece of the Scripture, of the Word of God, though it is no where to be found. That's why I have cited it as being in the book of Notinthere 3:16. Because it is Not in there. Though, many might be actually attempting to cite the verbiage of 1 Corinthians 10:13. This Scripture says:
No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it. 1 Corinthians 10:13 NIV
This Scripture is simply encouraging us in that Christ has witnessed and felt all the temptations that we have felt, and He overcame. Because of that experience and God's unending, unfathomable mercy, God will not allow temptation to be more than we can bare. He will always give us a way out of temptation and a way to escape sin.
However, many hold on to this FALSE hope that "God will never give us more than we can handle." This is simply not true. And I will tell you why.
If God would only give us what we could handle, then there is no need for Christ's sacrifice and no need for Christ's examples. There would be no need for the Law. Honestly, if God decided not to allow us to experience more than we can handle, we would not see a need for God in our lives at all.
AH-HAH!
God allows our choices, the choices of others, and circumstance to all weigh on us. He allows us to experience things so that we can see, accept, and then come to love and appreciate this truth:
WE. NEED. GOD.
When life is good, we need God to help us remain humble and grateful. When life is hard, we need God to comfort, lead, and sustain us. When life is melancholy, we need God to reignite the fire. When tragedy hits, we need God to direct us to help others who are suffering, or we need God to send us people who can help us through the pain, suffering, and questions.
WE. NEED. GOD.
This is why He sent us His Helper, His Comforter, His Indwelling Spirit, His Guide, His Revealer...He sent us the Holy Spirit to help us because we cannot do this alone. We are part of the fallen world. He need the power of the Holy Spirit to overcome sin, temptation, and fear.
WE. NEED. GOD.
We cannot do this alone. We need the Holy Spirit to reveal truth to us, remind us of that truth, and lay the concerns of God's hear on us. So often the Church has forgotten the third manifestation of God in the Trinity. We often hear about the Dynamic Duo, God the Father and Jesus the Son, but we rarely study the power, influence, and need for the third person in the triple-threat.
It was the movement of the Holy Spirit that was the pilot light to see the growth of the Church explode. It was the Holy Spirit that gave the Apostles amazing powers and the abilities to do signs and wonders that all pointed the world to Jesus and to the Father.
If you have been pursuing God, Jesus, and right living, but find yourself constantly exhausted and burned out, perhaps it is because you have been relying on self and not the Holy Spirit. Seek God's counsel and seek the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. Let God take your burdens and let the Holy Spirit orchestrate a wonderful story in and through you. Let His convictions direct you. Let His burdens drive your prayers and your actions. Seek His power and leading.
You cannot do it alone, and certainly are not meant to even try. That is why God gave us the Holy Spirit. Not that He "won't give us more than we can handle," but, rather, He will allow us to experience more than we can handle on our own so that His grace, power, mercy and love can shine. He is strong in our weakness. His is the Glory when He makes the impossible possible.
We need to trust in the third member of the Trinity and watch what God does with and through us by the power of His Holy Spirit.
If you have questions about the Holy Spirit, God, Jesus Christ, or how to get to Heaven, please reach out! Email us at dave@gifts4glory.com, or find us on Facebook and message us there!