One of the worship leaders spoke the truth
this Sunday. She talked about how we are
told that God never gives us more than we can handle. Then she said, “That is
not true, we often get more than we can handle.”
She
then talked about that often we are given more than we can handle, so that we
come to learn how to rely on God. And I
appreciate the sentiment, and I do believe that there are times when God does
intervene. But I think those times are
the exception. But I also believe that God
doesn’t give us situations to handle.
It
leads to the entire question of God’s interaction with the created world. There are important questions that are
raised. Is God all powerful? Is God everywhere? Is God all knowing? If he is, then why does he allow tragedy,
some of them of great magnitude?
It
also leads to other questions, about our expectations of life, and the
world. There is a denial of the nature
of life. Life is a struggle. It ends in death. I am not being pessimistic, I am being a
realist. We are told in scripture that
all of creation groans. And so, there is
great tragedy that befalls all of us.
It
also calls into question our faith, or rather my faith, and why do I believe in
God? Also integral to this question is
how to do I access the power of the God, the strength of the Holy Spirit? As well, the question of how do I live out my
faith is raised.
For
me it comes down to my belief that we have not been abandoned by God. That he resides among us, and in us. And the clues to that are all around.
“I
tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers
and sisters, you were doing it to me!”
And, “Now you are the body of Christ,
and each one of you is a part of it.”
We are called to be active in our faith. We are called to see the Christ in others,
and in doing so serve him. We are called
to be the body of Christ, and I take that quite literally. We are called to be each others miracles.
My spiritual heritage tells me that what I cannot do alone,
we can do together. In my early days in twelve step programs I was
told that my staying clean helped the person beside me stay clean as well.
These days, life does not have that same sense of
urgency. It is a illusion that I am
willing to take comfort in. But it is
true, there is not the same daily struggle, and I no longer have those mornings
when my first decision is to whether I will end my own life. But that does not diminish my need of others,
nor of their need for me.
So I believe, that yes, I often get more than I can
handle. And yes, often that is to
develop a deeper reliance on God. But I
also believe that often the more than I can handle, if it is allowed to happen
is to nourish my relationship with the others in my life. For I believe that together, there is nothing
that we cannot handle.
I
also believe that often getting more than I can handle is the disappointment
that I am not getting what I want.
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