This past week I have been studying about the call of
Mary. She was chosen to be the mother of
Jesus. I had often thought about the
difficulty of saying yes to God, that she would become pregnant and the
consequences that would have presented for a young woman in her day in her
situation. I however, had never thought
about how much God was asking of Mary in giving her a son who would be hated,
mocked, and crucified. One of the
hardest tragedies I cannot fathom is the loss of a child. God knew when he asked Mary to be the mother
of his son that he was asking her to raise a child who would be crucified as a
sacrifice for her and every other human being.
As I pondered this realization I was reminded of the Mother
Theresa quote “I know God will never give me more than I can handle, I just wish he didn't trust me so much.” This is something I have heard
repeated over and over again, as advice, as an encouragement. I thought, wow, God expected Mary to be able
to handle a lot. I thought Mother
Theresa’s quote was a paraphrase of a verse in the Bible, that somewhere God
promised to never give us more than we could handle, but as I started
researching that, I realized that isn’t true.
Nowhere in the Bible does it say God will not give US more than we can
handle. In fact, the opposite is true,
we are constantly faced with more than we can handle. If we never came up against more than we
could handle then there would be no need for God. What scripture does say is that “(we) can do
all things through Christ who gives (us) strength.” –Philippians 4:13
It kind of goes hand in hand with the saying “God gives his
hardest battles to his toughest soldiers.”
Now, I realize that people say this to encourage those going through a
hard time, but it isn’t true. He didn’t create me in my mother’s womb and say,
“this one here, she is resilient, she is strong, she can handle Cystic
Fibrosis.” No, he saw me as his child,
his creation, he knows every mutated gene in my body and he said, “child, you
will see some dark days, days you won’t think you will make it through, but
take heart because I have already won the battle! I will never leave you on the battlefield, I
will send my angels to encamp around you, and on the darkest nights, I promise
to bring you back to the light. I know
you are weak. I know you are wounded,
but I promise that in me you will find the strength to fight. We will get
through this together.”
There is a misconception that ones struggle is greater than
another’s, but I don’t think God measures our struggles, just like he doesn’t
measure our sin. Murder and dishonoring
your father are equal in God’s eyes. Sin
is sin. In the same way our sin is seen,
I believe our struggles are. A struggle
is a struggle. People often disregard their struggle when they are talking to
me and say, “I shouldn’t complain, it is nothing compared to what you go
through.” You are right, our struggles
are not the same, but my struggle does not negate yours. God doesn’t look at his children and say, Krissy
deserves more compassion because she is battling cancer and Joan only has pneumonia. In the way that God doesn’t judge our struggle,
we shouldn’t judge one another’s struggle.
I know that we are all given more than we can handle at times. God is always upholding us, giving us victory
in our challenges. He is extending
compassion, his tears are flowing into ours, and his arms are the fortress in which
we are secure. Often God extends his
compassion and love through his people, we are the extension of Christ and so
that means that we are the providers of compassion and love, grace and
encouragement. So in the way that Christ
sees your struggle, I do not negate it, I am not measuring it against my own, I
am here to empathize and encourage.
Perhaps you are one who has said to me that your struggle is nothing
compared to mine, maybe you are someone who has felt guilty for sharing your
hardship with me, then this post is for you.
I am not gauging your struggle, what I see is a battle that you are
facing, something that is difficult for you to fight through, and I am here for
you. I want to pray for you, I want to
encourage you, and I want you to know that your struggle matters. It matters to me and it matters to God. In the same way God has called out to me,
shown me compassion, and given me the strength to fight, he wants to do the
same for you. He knows the battle you
are facing, he knows the defeat that you feel, but he is with you and with him
you can find victory. He is saying to
you, “I know this is more than you can handle.
I am not asking you to overcome it on your own. I have never asked you to be strong
enough. What I want is for you to come
to me. Give me your battle and I will
give you the strength and victory.”
