Q: Does God only give us what we can handle?

A: From Peter: Mmm, this is a tough one. As a chaplain I've heard many people say something along the lines of, "Well, God never gives me more than I can handle, so I can't complain." Sometimes I almost hear the unspoken, question "...right?" at the end of their sentence. We've got this message downloaded in our heads that says God only gives us what we can handle and so we really wrestle with times when we feel like life is way way too much for us to handle. I think we add a sense of guilt and isolation to the situation when we think that we are somehow supposed to be managing this crazy life just fine on our own.

I think of the Apostle Paul's famous words in Philippians 4:13, "I can do all things through him who strengthens me." In the context of Paul's life we see that these words are not the words of some pristine saint who somehow pushed through the suffering around him through grit and determination. No, these are the words of a follower of Jesus who desperately leaned on his savior for help and comfort.

In close, I think of the "Footprints in the Sand" poem and the picture it paints for us.

One night I dreamed a dream.
As I was walking along the beach with my Lord.
Across the dark sky flashed scenes from my life.
For each scene, I noticed two sets of footprints in the sand,
One belonging to me and one to my Lord.

After the last scene of my life flashed before me,
I looked back at the footprints in the sand.
I noticed that at many times along the path of my life,
especially at the very lowest and saddest times,
there was only one set of footprints.

This really troubled me, so I asked the Lord about it.
"Lord, you said once I decided to follow you,
You'd walk with me all the way.
But I noticed that during the saddest and most troublesome times of my life,
there was only one set of footprints.
I don't understand why, when I needed You the most, You would leave me."

He whispered, "My precious child, I love you and will never leave you
Never, ever, during your trials and testings.
When you saw only one set of footprints,
It was then that I carried you."

Friend, you were not made to handle the craziness of this broken world, only Jesus can do that. You can trust in your savior to be present with you always and to deliver you through all the things you can't handle. "We are weak, but he is strong"

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