God is NOT Making Supermen!…
John 1:12-13 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
He’s making children!
Not people who can “handle things”…
Don’t you hate it when you are in the midst of the worst suffering and turmoil of your life, and someone, offering sympathy, says, “God does not give anyone more than they can handle!”
Yeah! Say that the next time YOU are in the midst of a Tsunami threatening to take it from you.
Ok… I’ll admit it… I too thought this useless phrase sounded like hope. I thought that hearing this would be a God-sized life vest I could throw to those drowning in the pain and suffering of life. I thought so… until I was in a Tsunami… until I felt pain I could not begin to handle alone!
More than I can handle? Where does this come from? Shouldn’t I be PROUD that I am tough enough to handle these things? Should I be judged if I am not? And, if God has already decided I should be able to handle this, why should I pray about it? Shouldn’t I just “Buck UP” and “DEAL”?
To be fair, most people do not mean to be MEAN or uncaring. And most do not wish to discourage us from seeking God. Most are only trying to “fix” the problem… to help!
For those I tried to fix in my immaturity… I humbly beg your forgiveness.
For those who gave me grace and mercy when it was my turn to learn… thank you for showing me Jesus! (John 8:32 “you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”)
Did you know that Scripture does not tell us that God is a faraway participant who plays with us like someone playing a game on a mobile device. He created us in His image but He does not make us Him. He gives us weapons and ways to withstand the evil in our world, but not so that we fight while He watches the battle. He gives us gifts and blessings that we might love and serve each other but not while He lounges by the pool and drinks cocktails.
He IS God, so He can and will choose what He will… Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans that I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.
He IS love, and He chooses love… Matthew 7:9-11 Or what man is there among you who, when his son asks for a loaf will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish , he will give him a snake, will he? If then you being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him?
So, where does this idea that God gives us trouble then leaves us to figure it out come from?
There is a Scripture that says…
1 Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.
Now, I’m not saying that temptation doesn’t come without it’s own brand of pain and suffering. Our enemy does indeed want us to think that we will SURELY DIE if we have to deny ourselves something that is CLEARLY WONDERFUL and will make us HAPPY… HEALTHY… and WISE! (Genesis 3:6 When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.)
But… temptation is not the same thing as the terrible things that can and do happen to us in this world. Temptation is something we MUST handle for it requires a CHOICE. The most awesome and glorious gift God has ever given mankind, the gift that elevated man/woman to a position above the angels, is FREE WILL. Made in God’s image, we have the ability to think and then choose who, what, where, when, and how and why we will take and use God’s image as our own. We are indeed made in the image of God, able to choose and required to choose, whom we will love, and therefor serve.
Though sickness, or pain, or trauma, may “tempt” us to doubt God’s love for us, it is not the same as the temptation spoken of in the above Scripture, the temptation to willfully dethrone God from our lives and the lives of others.
God, willingly and with full knowledge gave us this option by giving us FREE WILL. Because it is a gift of God, He will never take it away or interfere with our use of it. Free Will is truly the ultimate gift of love and thus allows the ultimate temptation – the rejection of such love.
When temptation (all temptation has but one goal – take God out of whatever is being considered) is present, a choice must be made and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.
Temptation requires YOU to choose, but God will not allow YOU to be given a choice you can not righteously make, and will provide you every reason to make the righteous choice. Our enemy, Satan, is the only one who hates us enough to try to take us away from our God who iS LOVE. Our way of escape, the way that we will be able to endure our enemy’s testing, the way that will always provide our way of escape… given to us by God, Himself… (Deuteronomy 6:4-9 “Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. )
So, yes, Scripture tells us that we must fight the enemy, but never alone!
We do have an enemy and it is NOT God! Whereas all temptation is to convince us to reject God and His love, God’s love for us and all of His creation is never CHANGED. Even when we fail in our battle to love God, He never fails to love us!
Yes, He confronts us when we are throwing a tantrum and threatening to run away from home because we cannot have our own way (see Job 38:3 “Now gird up your loins like a man, and I will ask you, and you instruct Me! for an example of telling everyone but God what you think…).
Yes, He trains us up in the way we should go which sometimes requires lessons of His strength. (2 Corinthians 12:8-10 I (Paul), implored the Lord three times that it might leave me. And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.)
Yes, God allows things in our lives that do not make sense to us. But God… “you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result” (see Genesis 50:19-20 – Joseph’s response to a life completely different from his what he imagined)
But, in all this, God is not making Supermen and Superwomen to independently defeat every known and unknown enemy sent into our lives (sent by Satan – the REAL enemy!) for the purpose of defeating us and our God.
God is not our Personal Trainer… building muscles with which to fight every battle on our own.
God is making children… His children… who have received a spirit of adoption as sons and daughters… by which we cry out, “Abba! Father! (Romans 8:15)
I’ve changed… no more bootstrap living or advice giving… no more Superwoman physical therapy!
I say… let’s RUN to the One who IS SUPER…
I say… let’s take our every need – our every dream – our every hurt – our every temptation to Daddy…
Come on, I’ll cry out with you… Abba! Father!
I say… it’s Family Time… Side by Side and Hand in Hand!
Come Lord, come!
**All Scripture quoted comes from the “Bible Gateway” app and is the NASB version of the Bible