More than you can handle?

God will never give you more than you can handle…. I have said it to others and I have heard other people say it.

The thing is… I don’t know if I believe it...

What if this statement is not true?  What if God does give us more than we can handle? Would you trust him?

What if the moments in life that you cannot handle, are the moments you were meant to live for?  The moments you feel like you are losing control… the moments you cannot do on your own… How would this change the way you looked at life?

What if you choose to look for these moments in life instead of run away from them?  Seek after the things that seem impossible? What if these are the moments we are meant to dream a God size dream?  A miracle!

The very definition of miracle is a surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore considered to be the work of a divine agency, a highly improbable or extraordinary event, development, or accomplishment that brings very welcome consequences.  It is something that is not obtainable by human events.

What if God is asking you to dream bigger, to go after things that you cannot handle so that you can see him more?    Increase your faith!  See his Glory!  Witness miracles!  Because He is enough!

I live somewhere where this is hard to understand.  I have comfort and safety.  There are not many things out of my control or if I’m truly honest, that I cannot handle on my own.    If I am sick, I run to the drug store and get medicine, if I am cold, I turn up the heat.  If I’m hungry I go to the grocery store and get food or hit up the chipotle on the corner.  If I want new clothes I run to the nearest Marshalls or mall.  Or if I really want something, chances are I can order it on Amazon.  

But what if the plan was not to be comfortable?  What is the plan was not to be able to handle everything on our own?  What if the plan was to dream big?  To lose control?  To seek after miracles?

I believe that God totally, absolutely, intentionally gives us more that we can handle.  Because this is when we surrender to Him and he takes over, proving himself by doing the impossible in our lives.  (Katie Davis, Kisses from Katie)

Sometimes these moments where we are uncomfortable and we feel out of control are not moments that we ask for.  We have all have times where we cannot understand why we are going though something, whether it is sickness, loss of a job, loss of a family member, you can fill in the blank.  

How can we say a loving God would give us these things?  Does he?

So what if we are supposed to have more than we can handle.  

Not because God gives this to us but because we live in a fallen world.   A world where we can chose to see God or chose to deny God.  The moments we have more than we can handle are when we can 

see Him more.  

Some times God places something on our hearts and gives us things bigger than we can handle.  A God sized dream.  

Other times, these big challenges are the result of a fallen world.  These things are not given to us by God nor do they happen because God does not love us. But these things can point us to Him.  We can choose to see Him or deny him.  He loves us so much that he wants more than anything for us to know HIM more. In our weakness, his power shines through us.   We see him for who he is and our faith in Him increases.  This is God’s Glory!

Powerless, broken, and have nothing left to give, these are the moments where we see God the clearest! This is where God is closest!  He wants us to identify the things in our lives where he can perform miracles.  This is when we can know God more! 

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 of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. (2 Corinthians 12:9)

What is our family’s God Sized Dream?  Our miracle?  Adoption from The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

Not one but two children!  Our children!  Kinsman and Miralette!  From a third world country filled with war, poverty, death and 80 thousand orphans.   God placed this dream on our hearts!  

We froze with fear.  How will this happen?  We can’t do it.  

We can’t handle it.  It is unattainable.  It would take a miracle to make this happen.

Do not fear for I am with you, do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.  (Isaiah 41:10).

This was our first realization that God was giving us more than we could handle. But wait…. I thought God never gave you more than you could handle?  Mike and I had always wanted to adopt but it seemed like a task that was insurmountable.   “There is no way we can do it”, I remember saying.

Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on the wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint (Isaiah 40:31)

It was in this moment that we realized… we did have more than we could handle.  In this situation we are powerless, weak, and cannot go one minute without crying out to God. 

He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. (Isaiah 40:29)

What if this was His plan all along?  For us to surrender control and watch Him accomplish the impossible through us!

I can do all this through him who gives me strength. (Philippians 4:13)

So we are stepping out and trusting God.  We are choosing to believe our God size dream and to let go of control.  We have a long way to go until Kinsman and Miralette are home but every step of the way God is there.   We see Him revealed in new and amazing ways.  Adoption is not something we can do alone.  Most days we feel like everything is completely out of our control.  Which means we need God.  We need a miracle!  What if having more than you can handle in life may actually be part of the plan?  What if it is in these moments we realize our need for God?  And when we realize this, we start to know him more and we give him all of the glory!

You can live a safe and comfortable life where most likely difficult things are still going to happen to you or you could choose to take a risk in something bigger, a God size dream.  Because, what if just beyond that risk, just beyond the fear is a life better than anything we have ever imagined:  life to the fullest! (Katie Davis- Kisses from Katie)

Where is God asking you to step out of your comfort zone? 

What is your God sized dream?  

Your Miracle?   

The above is how God is working in my life.  But God has placed specific things in my life to help me better understand what he is trying to teach me.  I always want to give credit where credit is due.

References:

The Bible (NIV)

Davis, Katie. (2011).  Kisses from Katie.  New York, New York.  Howard books.

Moore, Beth.  (2004).  Believing God experiencing a fresh explosion on faith.  Nashville, TN.  LifeWay Press.

Gerth, Halley.  (2013).  Opening the Door to your God-sized dream. Grand Rapids, MI.  Revell.