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Want to hear about my terrible, horrible, no good, very bad week? I mean weeks?<\/p>\n
No?<\/p>\n
Can\u2019t say I blame you. And I can\u2019t say I want to talk about it, either. But let\u2019s do talk about a few dreadful sayings that have a tendency to surface when we are going through difficult times:<\/p>\n
God doesn\u2019t give you more than you can handle.<\/em><\/p>\n First problem with this saying is that it\u2019s a lie from the pit of hell meant to light a motivational fire under people\u2019s bums to do more, more, more, and try harder, harder, harder. The truth is, God\u2019s method is to use a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad week to drive us to Himself in complete reliance for all we need. Not to expect us to be self-reliant, self-capable, or self-sufficient. In fact, a major portion of the Christian walk is centered around us decreasing, Christ increasing. Us admitting our weaknesses, Christ helping us with our weaknesses. Etcetera. Second problem with this saying is that since it\u2019s from the pit of hell, we can also be assured it\u2019s unbiblical. Who can show me chapter and verse to back up the ridiculous saying?<\/p>\n Anyone?<\/em><\/p>\n Anyone?<\/em><\/p>\n Bueller?<\/em> (Now there\u2019s someone who believed he could handle anything!)<\/p>\n -Did runty David slay giant Goliath with some piddly little stones? Yes. Not because he could handle it on his own, but because, bottom line: he served a God who enabled him.<\/p>\n -Could Peter walk on water? Sure, as long as his gaze was fixated on Christ, which clearly didn\u2019t happen for any length of time. Bottom line: he needed Christ\u2019s strength and focus, because (understandably!) walking on water was more than he could handle.<\/p>\n -Could the woman who touched the hem of Christ\u2019s garment heal herself of a twelve year flow of blood? Apparently not. A woman who can handle her own healing does not work as hard as she did to get through a rough and tumble crowd who deemed her an unclean, untouchable outcast. She had already visited the doctors. They couldn\u2019t help. She tried all the natural remedies. They made the situation worse. She needed Jesus, her Great Physician, and she was willing to do whatever it took to touch His hem and get the healing available to her. Bottom line: her illness was too much for her to handle.<\/p>\n -And the thief on the cross. He was eternally lost (nothing like hanging on a cross to convince a guy of that!). He would be dead in a matter of hours. God gave him more than he could handle to allow him to see that by his own power or on his own merit, he couldn\u2019t save himself from physical or spiritual death. Bottom line: the thief\u2019s heart problem and eternal destination were more than he could handle.<\/p>\n How can any of us end up \u201cwith Him in Paradise\u201d without His grace and mercy? How can we do anything<\/em> without Him? Healing ourselves in any way, finding strength through difficult circumstances, or making it to Heaven are impossible without Christ, no matter how much we hoist ourselves up by our boot straps and attempt to \u201chandle the situation.\u201d Which brings me to another dreadful saying \u2026<\/p>\n God helps those who help themselves.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n False. He helps those who pitifully admit their need for help, and come humbly to receive that help. The Bible says that without Him, we can do nothing. It also says that as Christians, we are to expect trials and tribulations. Ongoing, difficult, wearisome troubles that afflict us in every way, but do not crush us. Troubles that perplex us, but do not drive us to despair. Troubles that lead to persecution, but never forsakenness. Troubles that strike us down, but do not destroy us. Why do they not crush us, drive us to despair, or destroy us? Because, bottom line: God helps, strengthens, comforts, protects, and guides.<\/p>\n I have an ongoing, bad habit when terrible, horrible, no good, very bad days or weeks or months come. I keep asking why. Why is this happening? Why me? Why someone I love? Why are my troubles so perplexing and difficult and\u00a0ongoing<\/em>? Why can\u2019t I catch a break? And the problem with those questions is that they\u2019ve already been answered:<\/p>\n