Truth for Today

Discouraging Thought: God will only give me what I can handle.

Encouraging Truth: "But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." . . .

Loving Instruction: . . . Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, . . .

Our Reward: . . . so that the power of Christ may rest upon me." - II Corinthians 12:9

I don't know how many times this week the phrase "Lord, I can't handle this!" has been uttered silently, whispered, and even shouted through my lips. Everyone, including my nine month pregnant self, has been sick for a couple weeks now. We finally took the kids to the pediatrician as well as saw our doctors and all of us were put on antibiotics. However, a few days into the antibiotics, we all came down with some kind of other sickness causing fever, lack of appetite, and restless sleep. While trying to care for my three under three, third trimester nausea, exhaustion, headaches, and just about every ache and pain you can imagine have returned to torture me. Needless to say, I'm a walking emotional wreck - at the end of myself in every way emotionally, physically, mentally, and even spiritually. Yet every time I ended in a pile of tears on the kitchen floor sobbing to Jesus that I can not handle what was on my plate, I'd hear voices of pastors, friends, and family saying "God never gives us what we can't handle" and I'd feel guilty for telling God that I couldn't handle what He has given me. Now either I'm the world's most incompetent, emotional mother (that may not be so far-fetched) or something is wrong with the statement most of us had heard all our lives. After searching scripture, I have come to a conclusion: no where in the Bible does it say that God will not give us what we can't handle. (I Corinthians 10:13 comes the closest, but that is referring to temptations of sin, not struggles.) What I do find repeatedly is that God is our strength, and that His strength is made perfect in our weakness. It is His strength, not ours. Even one of the most popular verses to go to, Philippians 4:13, states that "I can do everything through Him who gives me strength.". It's not our strength. It's His. I can't handle my circumstances. Period. And when I look at the last couple of weeks through that viewpoint, I can give God praise. I don't look back and see a disheveled whale of a woman sobbing on the couch with three toddlers piled around her. I see God's strength getting me through each day.

**As I am by no means an authority on scripture, I found this blog post to be particularly helpful: God Won't Give You More than You Can Handle**