When God Gives You More than You Can Handle

It is often said, and believed to be a part of the Bible, that God will not give you more than you can handle. The idea is that each person has a breaking point, and that God, knowing where that breaking point is, withholds difficulties at a certain point so that the individual does not break. A few times when I have asked people where that is in the Bible, they responded by saying that they don't know but they are sure it is in there.

One of the better ways of finding what is in the Bible is to use an "exhaustive concordance." There are many out there and they are a good investment if you hope to know your Bible at all. You can take any word or phrase and look it up, alphabetically, and find it...If it is there, of course. You know what you won't find? A verse that says God won't give you more than you can handle.

At least 2 caveats exist in regards to this principle. First, there is a verse that says God will not allow you to be TEMPTED beyond what you can resist:

"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).

This has to do with resisting SIN, a word not often heard in the general public or even many churches these days. To sin is to miss the mark, to fall short of the holiness God knows will bring you ultimate joy (sometimes through temporary self-denial.) So it means that will not lead you into temptation  (as in Jesus' prayer) that is more than you can resist, and he will give you a way out of any temptation. This is not a verse that proves God will not allow you to suffer more than you can handle.

The second caveat is that Scripture seems to teach, by principle, that God WILL give you more than you can handle. Hold on and let me explain. Paul teaches that God's strength shines through when we are beyond the end of our ropes:

" ^7 ... Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. ⁸ Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. ⁹ But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. ¹⁰ That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:7-10).

How else do we get there except that God allows us to walk through what we cannot otherwise bear, empowering and enabling us to do what we cannot do without him? He has to allow more than we, in our own strength, can handle.  It is the gift nobody wants, but those  who have received it, looking back, would not trade it for wealth, beauty or a life of ease.

At the foundation of the belief that God will not give us more than we can handle are a couple of errors. One is that we are intended to go through life relying on our own strength. Did you catch it in Paul's quotation of what God told him? He said that his GRACE is sufficient. Those who are self-contained and self-sufficient are not in need of grace. Grace is for the weak, the broken, and the fallen. Defined technically as "God's unmerited (unearned) favor," grace rushes in where we are lacking and gives us strength beyond our own abilities. If you are a believer in Christ, the same power that raised Jesus from the dead is at work in you! What a waste it would be to rely on your own puny human strength to wage a spiritual war you cannot win without him.

Another error (even harder to confront) is that our lives are supposed to be comfortable, bearable, and most importantly, about us. A true follower of Christ, sooner or later, comes to realize that his individual life is about magnifying Jesus. Each encounter is to glorify Christ, by whatever means necessary. This causes you to see the temporary nature of everything else. Only Jesus remains. He will give you grace and truth, love and power--more than you can handle!

 

 

“And” is Better

A recent ad campaign brings this concept to us in hilarious clarity. “And” is better than “or.” Take sweet and sour chicken…what if it were only sour? What if a pee-wee coach were just loud and not clear? You get the picture.

 
Yet so often, in our theology and the way we do life, we gravitate toward “or.” I hear it in conversations; I see it in Facebook posts, televised sermons and the books on the shelves at local stores. We apparently think the message of Jesus is love “or’ judgment, grace “or” truth, mercy “or” love. By choosing “or,” we miss the beauty and mystery of “and.”

Most family therapists these days recognize the need for love “and” limits. Children who grow up without nurturance “and” boundaries become lopsided adults—either performance oriented to the exclusion of meaningful attachments, extremely insecure and needy, or entitled people who believe the laws and rules of society (and Scripture) do not apply to them. This is part of why our family structures are disintegrating before us, like a slow motion train wreck.

The way we view judgment is a great (but controversial) example. Jesus did indeed teach, “Judge not lest you be judged…by the same standard.” Paul, in a balancing “and” taught that we (believers) are to judge the conduct of those within the church, and discern (same Greek word as judge) truth from error. While we tend to see concepts in mutually exclusive spheres, truth and love are in fact concentric circles. The loving one tells a difficult truth for the sake of repentance, reconciliation (where possible), growth and maturity. In turn, it is part of a greater truth that God loved the world so much that he sent his only Son so that all who believe in him would not perish. The coexistence of love and truth is what Paul alluded to when he said that, speaking truth in love, we will all grow up to resemble Jesus. And Jesus came in grace “and” truth, not grace “or” truth.

A major theme of Scripture is this concept that there is a Godly sorrow that leads to repentance. Repentance, in turn, leads to forgiveness, and forgiveness leads to freedom--from judgment as well as the sin that binds us. We have become so afraid of “and” that many mainstream churches will not talk about sin because they don’t want people to feel bad about themselves. So people cannot be brought to a place of repentance, and cannot receive the benefits of freedom or a real relationship with God through Jesus.

Jesus was indeed a teacher of love, but not a love without limits. He forgave the woman caught in adultery “and” told her to go and sin no more. He said more about hell than we are comfortable knowing, and he was flat out angry with the self-righteous. Some equate the “religious” with the self-righteous of Jesus’ day, and they have a point. The bigger problem is that most people today feel that they have no need to repent because they do not believe in sin. How is this not self-righteousness? It concludes that people are good enough for a relationship with God on their own merit. If this is so, Christ died in vain—his sacrifice was unnecessary if people are good enough already. People who are already good enough do not need a Savior. This is a delusion and a lie and represents what Jesus called the “broad path” the majority takes, that leads to destruction.

He dwelt among us in grace “and” truth. He taught repentance “and” forgiveness of sins. While we may feel better about ourselves in the short term if we believe in love without consequences, when it comes to eternity, maturity and real relationship with God and others, “and” is better than “or.”

Let not mercy and truth forsake you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. ~ Proverbs 3:3 (NKJV)

Hungry Shepherds

 

Shepherds must be dear in God’s heart. They certainly have a special place in his book. Jesus described himself as the good shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep. Secure in the crook of his arm, he declares that no man can snatch them away. Many of us are used to the beautiful paintings of Jesus, strong and tender, watching the flocks or carrying a lost lamb back to the fold.

The realities of being a shepherd were far from lovely. They lived apart from the cities, those who did not fit in. No doubt about it, they smelled like the sheep they cared for. Uneducated, not considered the portals of God’s news by anyone around them, yet they were the ones God chose to receive the great news.  Of all people—shepherds were the first to hear the announcement of the birth of Jesus. Another in a series of paradoxes, the good news of great joy came to those at the bottom of the social structure of their time.

“⁸ And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. ⁹ An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. ¹⁰ But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. ¹¹ Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. ¹² This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
¹³ Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
¹⁴ “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
    and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”
¹⁵ When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”
Luke 2:8-15 New International Version (NIV)

Born to uneducated teenage parents in an out of the way town they did not live in, a birth of questionable circumstances, in a stable, a manger for a bed. Then came this announcement to social misfits in the middle of nowhere. Today, the births of princes are photographed, bathed in beautiful light, everyone scrubbed clean and airbrushed, so easy to love. But when God came close to us, he did so in a particularly unattractive place and in the most unexpected way.

Mary hinted at God’s surprising ways in her response to the angel who told her she would give birth to the Son of God: “He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away hungry”( Luke 1:53).

Not far away, priests lay in their warm soft beds, satisfied with their own piety and proud of their knowledge and positions. They were full of themselves. Too full, perhaps, to hear the word of the Lord. The shepherds, hungry and cold in the night, eyes searching the heavens as they had so many times before, looking and listening for God knows what, were filled that night. We know they received the word because of their response—“Let’s go see!”

When the baby became a man, he taught the principles of an inverted kingdom–blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they will be filled. There are many ways of being full of ourselves these days. Educated, affluent, comfortable in our soft beds, distracted by a million shiny objects, we risk missing what God wants to say to us. Our lives are not about these comforts or accomplishments but, are meant to be about a relationship with the Prince of Peace. Are you hungry for him? He longs to fill you.

 

Being Light

The recent release of “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” was heralded by trailers, actor interviews, airport events and press releases. Unless you were living off the grid, you knew the movie was coming. When any major event is about to take place, publicity agents make sure it will not go unnoticed. Several months in advance they begin sounding the trumpet to herald the arrival of their “baby,” their project.  Their job is to make sure we know the event is coming. Whether or not we attend is entirely up to us.

The arrival of baby Jesus was not unannounced or unexpected. The prophets of the Old Testament had long predicted his coming…he who would offer salvation and eternal peace to the nation of Israel and the whole world. John the Baptist, as a contemporary of Jesus, was the last prophet to announce his coming, and even John was foretold by the prophet Isaiah: “I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way—a voice of one calling in the desert, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him’” (Isaiah 40:3; Mark 1:2-3).   John knew his place relative to the Messiah he announced, saying that he would not be worthy to untie his sandals.  Whether people accepted the message or not was not about John.  Rather, it was about Jesus, whom he foretold. To reject the announcement was to reject Jesus, not John the messenger.

The presence and purpose of Jesus is hardly a secret in the world today. He is not unannounced or unexpected. We have many witnesses to him—the record of his life and ministry found in scripture, the sacrificial lives of the apostles and martyrs who knew him personally and were willing to die for the truth of his message, millions of lives changed by the work of his Spirit in and through ordinary broken people—yet not all accept him. We who believe in him and trust him for our now and future redemption are also called to be his witnesses. While we are not all given the gift of evangelist, we are all given the charge to evangelize.

Jesus taught his followers to be light in a dark world where it is easy to get lost. The witness of most believers is not preaching to those around us rather, it is the way we do life. The work of the Holy Spirit enables us to love in ways that we could not otherwise (persevering, forgiving, hoping, believing the best, never giving up…). These are often stronger witnesses than dramatic gifts or eloquent words.  He spoke to the inevitability of our witness in his usual clear and simple language—no one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket, the purpose of the lamp is to spread light to the entire room. As his followers, we are the lamp intended to light the rooms of life we inhabit.

Please accept this reminder that there is never a time when we are not to be that light for others. There is no encounter—even a non-verbal one—that does not count for the Kingdom.  The woman who holds up the line in the department store, the man who cuts you off in traffic, the difficult person in the workplace, all are in need of his light—an unexpected response from us that stops them in their tracks. It is not us people accept or reject—the gospel is not about us—but  Jesus, the one we are witnesses to.

 “In him was life, and that life was the light of men.” John 1:4

 

 

God With Us

There are many things we take for granted in the United States. We can go to a market and choose from an abundance of foods and products. The biggest challenge for most Americans at Christmas is finding a gift another person can use, not because of limited products rather, because most people already have far more stuff than they need.

Spiritually, those of us in the church take a lot for granted as well. Under the Old Testament covenants, a lot was conditional (e.g.,God's covenant with Israel to stay in the Land). God was, more often than not, hidden behind a thick veil, interceded with only by the Levitical priests under specific conditions at preordained times of the year. This was what people were used to. Certainly they could pray to God, but he was, it was assumed, distant.

The Gospel of Matthew begins with a genealogy, outlining the 14 generations between Abraham and David, the 14 generations between David and the Exile, and the 14 generations between the Exile and the birth of Christ. Matthew seems to be pointing to the divine hand that set the stage for the unlikely story that follows:

¹⁸ This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about^[a]: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. ¹⁹ Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet^[b] did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.
²⁰ But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. ²¹ She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus,^[c] because he will save his people from their sins.”
²² All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: ²³ “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”^[d] (which means “God with us”).
Matthew 1:18-23

It is the last phrase we are likely to take for granted these days: "God with us." No longer hidden by a mist at the top of a mountain or behind a veil, thick and tall, in the holiest part of a tabernacle, God came near in the form of an infant, born to unlikely teenagers under scandalous circumstances, and was laid in a filthy stable. You have heard it so many times that its impact probably escapes you.

Think of it this way: Where would you be if this now "old news" event had not taken place? What if God had chosen (he had every right) to remain remote and distant, relationship unobtainable for all but a very few  Spirit filled  patriarchs, prophets and, kings? Where would you be if God had not come near in the babe in the stable?

Once in a while, I step from a steamy shower and grab a freshly laundered towel and I say, "Thank you God, for this blessing." I am not entitled to comforts or blessings or a relationship with the King of the Universe. But these blessings are mine. Some will pass away, but one blessing will remain forever:  God with us.

 

Joyful Greetings

When I run into someone who has been a friend for some time, it is not unusual, when we part, for him or her to say something like: "Say hi to Mary for me." So it is not unusual for us to exchange "parting greetings." So did Paul typically send along greetings as he closed a letter to a church. His letter to the church in Philippi is no exception:

"Greet all the saints in Christ Jesus. The brothers who are with  me send greetings. All the saints send you greetings, especially those who belong to Caesar's household. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen." Philippians 4:21-23

Unlike some current approaches to Christianity that build a hierarchical structure, in Paul's letters all true believers (followers of Christ) are considered saints. So when he says "greet all the saints," he is basically instructing the recipients to greet all the believers in their town. The same is true of all the brothers and saints who are with him, who send greetings to the saints in Philippi. The reference to Caesar's household might well refer to literal family members of the family of Caesar that Paul has witnessed to during his imprisonment. No wonder Paul could say that his current situation had advanced the gospel of Christ. As usual, Paul gave great prominence to the grace of Jesus Christ as he closed his letter, "the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit."

It is always a temptation to skim opening and closing comments in these letters. In doing so, we run the risk of losing some nuggets. Paul's all inclusive language is not accidental, I suspect. I think it fits in, and enhances, his message of unity and joy to the Philippian church. The letter is not only to a pastor, or the elders, or to certain hand-picked individuals who were somehow special or superior. Rather, it was from all the saints to all the saints. The implication is simple and profound...we are all the same. All who come to Jesus are in need of the same grace for salvation and sanctification (Philippians 1:4-6).

When we lose sight of these things, hierarchies develop, people develop superior attitudes and become judgmental about inconsequential things. When our focus is all about Jesus and the things he brings to us, peace, joy, and unity reign in our hearts, in our relationships, and in the body of Christ. This does not happen automatically or without some intentional effort on our parts, but the Holy Spirit assists us to do his will in the work of unity.

So, friends, readers, brothers and sisters, saints, we close this letter with Paul. We have looked at every verse together over the last several months. As you continue to reflect on the book of Philippians, I am certain that the Spirit will show you deeper and deeper understanding, insight and application of these joyous truths. That's what he does, because he loves us so. The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you all, no exceptions. Amen

 

Fragrant Offerings

Sometimes when I am out and about, usually when I am overdue for lunch or dinner, I catch the aroma of delicious food cooking. Winter nights leaving the office, I smell the medley of restaurants downtown, or walking the dogs in the summer, the fragrances of barbeques in the neighborhood envelop me. Then there are the non-food related pleasures of sweet honeysuckle, pine, roses and Colorado rain bringing the evergreen and sage into the valley as an unexpected gift. I count these as gifts from God and, I thank him for them.

In the early church, people were acquainted with the offerings involved in various religions, both pagan and Jewish. No doubt the fragrant offerings from the temple were a part of their lives, even if they were not Jews. So Paul's expression of appreciation to them made perfect sense to them:

"I am amply supplied now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent. They are a fragrant offering, and acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God. And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. To our God and Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen" Philippians 4:18-20

It is important to remember, occasionally, that Paul was writing from prison. So, when he speaks of all his needs being amply supplied. it is a testimony to his ability to be content in any and every circumstance (4:11-13). How many of us would feel that God was meeting all our needs under these circumstances? But Paul's focus was not personal comfort or gain (the values embraced even in the church these days), rather to have the resources to spread the gospel as far as possible in his lifetime. Apparently God met these needs a little at a time, repeatedly demonstrating his provision. That believers were God's instruments and the conduits of these fragrant offerings was a blessing to them and to Paul. As they were generous with what God provided, their gifts rose back to God with the sweet aroma of grace.

Paul gives the lesson back to them. Just as God has met all his needs, God will meet all their needs as well. Note that needs and luxuries are two different things entirely. Food, clothing, shelter, and resources to give back to the Kingdom of God...These are needs. God is not challenged by meeting our needs, but does so out of his glorious riches. (Advertising is very good at persuading us that we "need" a lot of other things, and I see this as a friendly attack on our focus and our faith.)

Paul's perspective was one of God's faithfulness to meet his real needs. He saw God's faithfulness in any and every circumstance, and he had some terrible ones to endure. The principle here, to boil it down to its basic elements is this: when your life is all about God, you never have reason to despair. Everything else in this life is temporary (sand) but, he is the Rock upon which to build the purpose of your life. So the closing statement to this paragraph is a natural conclusion: All the glory goes to God our Father for ever and ever. Amen!