Recently, I have had a string of mechanical issues. First, we had two cars in our family that required significant repairs. I mean, one is bad enough… but two at the same time? While on a camping vacation our camper water heater went out, and then on the way home I had to find a place to grease some trailer wheels. Our refrigerator ice maker stopped working. My mower has been giving me some issues, I broke a part on my bandsaw when I was changing the blade, and our house water heater started having issues.
These things hit me – BAM! One after another in a two week period! After the 4th or 5th issue all I could think was, “You’ve got to be kidding me!” I will admit to not handling the last issue of the water heater in a mild-mannered fashion! Most of the issues have been repaired, although I still have a couple to deal with… but man, am I ready for a break from broken down stuff!
We’ve probably all experienced runs like that in our lives from time to time where everything just seems to come apart at the same time, and many times, those problems are much more difficult than a camper water heater going on the blink.
A difficult diagnoses comes on the heels of the passing of a loved one. A relationship goes off the rails just when job pressure has been turned up. A family member is wounded and then a major financial issue is dumped in your lap.
Someone once said, “God will never give you more than you can handle.” But you know who never said that? God. That phrase isn’t in the Bible. But you know what is in the Bible? “Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.” 1 Peter 5:7 “Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28 “Give your burdens to the Lord, and he will take care of you.” Psalm 55:22
While God never giving us more than we can handle is a comforting thought, perhaps the reality is that in the difficulties of life God is seeking to remind us of our need to depend upon Him. The more difficult the burden… the greater that we need to lean on Him… and the more we lean on Him… the more our faith in Him grows… and the more our faith in Him grows…. the more glory we can bring to His name.
I think the challenge for me is… maybe the same for you… learning to release those burdens and cares in confidence that God knows what is best for me. “Dear Lord, grow my faith to the place where my first thought in any trial is — What good thing does God want to do in my life through this experience? Amen”
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