God won't give you more than you can handle -- not true.

Here is a note I sent to a friend who was struggling with the burdens of life:

I'd like to share something with you that I've learned in hopes that it will encourage you. Although we hear the phrase often, there is no where in the Bible that says God will never give you more than you can handle-- as in burdens, calamities, feeling weighed down by life, etc. When my husband was dying of leukemia 7 yrs ago, people kept telling me this statement but I realized I didn't find it comforting. Rather it made me feel like somehow I wasn't trusting God enough or I just wasn't measuring up in my faith because it did indeed feel like I had more than I could possibly bear. So in hopes I could understand this promise of God better, I went looking for it and I discovered you won't find that promise anywhere in the Bible. But don't despair. Read on. :)

(There IS a verse that says God will not allow us to be TEMPTED beyond what we can bear. 1 Corinth 10:13 "No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. 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 stand up under it." It sounds like that is speaking of something very different than what you are going through.)

I found it comforting and perhaps you will too, that even the great apostle Paul said he'd been given more than he could handle: "For we do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead." (2 Corinth 1:8-9)

There you have the very reason that God will INDEED allow more to come into your life than you can handle. Because that is what it takes to drive most of us to our knees & admit our need for God. And that is where he meets us. When we come to the end of ourselves and admit we simply can not do it alone, & that we desperately need Him.

When life hands you more than you can handle, let me encourage you to turn to the ONE who can handle it ALL. "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest." (Matthew 11:28)

Me, Generous? Ha, If Only You Knew--

Recently, a couple of girlfriends and I were attending a women’s luncheon at our church. They were selling raffle tickets for prizes but only taking cash and my friends had no cash on them. I dug thru my purse and rounded up ten dollars, with which I purchased ten tickets. I felt bad for my friends not having any cash, so I gave them each two of the tickets. They were surprised and delighted and thankful and I bounded off to the ladies’ room feeling quite good about myself for being such a generous person. Then I felt a check in my spirit. I suddenly saw the selfishness in it. Yes, I gave my friends each two tickets. I didn’t have to. They didn’t expect it. But come on now, it’s hardly generous when I gave them each two and kept six for myself. And there it lay; clearly exposed: the self-centered nature that is still within. Not to mention the embarrassing rapidity with which I was ready to pat myself on the back.

But it’s ok, for this is how we grow and become better people. I love it that God shows me things like this about myself. I didn’t feel shamed or debased, but rather was given a sober, honest reality check about where I am today. Gently but quite clearly showing me, I still have so far to go.

I have helped many people and there are many who would say I am a generous person, but the truth is that I have never given enough to make myself uncomfortable. And I’m not even sure that’s required of us. My point is not to advocate a philosophy of self-denial, but if Christ is my model, and I look at what he gave up so that we might HAVE, then my own assessment of this is that I wish I would’ve instinctively divided them up evenly. Maybe next time. God’s shown me the next rung to reach for.

Err on the Side of Compassion

While approaching a stoplight, on our way to the mall, we saw a guy standing on the corner with a sign that had some sort of "down and out" message. Wordlessly, I handed Brent a ten. Now I must insert here, before going on, that Brent and I both -- as a rule -- hand out cash when we come across this type of situation, BUT on this day, Brent said, "What if he's scamming us?" I just said, "Here." And laid the ten down on his knee. Brent looked over at me and said, "Err on the side of compassion?" and I replied, "Of course." And we did.

You see, there really is no way to know if you're being scammed or not. But I'd rather it be true that because I chose to be compassionate, I was scammed than because I chose to be distrustful, I missed an opportunity to extend compassion to a hurting soul.

Ok. So now I've gone and created a blog...

Ok. So now I've gone and created a blog. Somehow I ended up here because I wanted to follow someone else's blog. Now I'm gonna have to start writing. But first I need to have some amazing thoughts. Hmmmm....