A Cup of Grace – with a shot of espresso

So, how are you doing?  If you’ve just given the culturally acceptable response of “fine,” I’m neither surprised, nor necessarily convinced.  Or maybe you were slightly more honest and said, “I’m hanging in there” or “I’m surviving.” I have said all of these with a liar’s smile upon my face. 

There are times in each of our lives when we feel like we are barely hanging on.  Sometimes it’s due to a particular season of life that is busier or more overwhelming than another. Both joys and struggles can upset our peace of mind.  Then, to complicate things even further,  there are nearly always people involved over whom we have little to no control. 

And when we finally admit that we are kind of close to “losing our stuff,” well-meaning people offer things like “just hang in there” or “it will get better.” Perhaps the most misleading comfort words I’ve heard are “God will not give you more than you can handle.” 

The first two are things I’ve said myself but on closer inspection are pretty worthless. Each one implies that whatever we are facing we can simply overcome by our sheer tenacity or fortitude. And the third one is simply not true. (The Bible DOES say that He will not TEMPT us beyond what we can bear but will provide a way out of the temptation.) In fact, I would draw your attention to evidence that suggests that God regularly lets us get in over our heads so that we might depend on Him. 

Examples of this dot the pages of biblical history. Moses knew he was not big enough to convince Pharaoh to let the Israelites go.  He tried to talk God into choosing someone else (Exodus 3:11 ). David faced a giant far bigger and more experienced than him in battle (I Samuel 17:33). Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego were faced with an angry king and a fiery furnace (Daniel 3: 13-15); Daniel was thrown into a lion’s den for praying (Daniel 6: 10-13), and Peter and other apostles were thrown into prison for preaching Christ (Acts 5: 17-18) .

Moses was right. Pharaoh didn’t listen. God did the convincing. David informed Goliath that it was God who would give David the victory.  Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego did not have an exinguisher.  They told the king that their deliverance was up to God, and He provided.   Daniel was not a secret lion tamer.  He told the king that he was alive because, “My God shut the mouths of the lions.”   The apostles did not pick the lock or have a secret inside connection. God used an angel for that release. They each trusted God to walk with them through the situation that was too big for them – regardless of the outcome. If they had solved their problems, the glory would have gone to them.  In each case, they were clearly out of their depth, and the glory went to whom it belonged.  

When we are in our greatest need, we finally quit trying to handle things on our own and cry out to God. Why we wait so long is unclear.  I wish I could say I was like David, confidently picking up stones and moving for God’s glory, but I most often can be found trying to plot and solve problems in my own way. Only when my attempts fail, do I finally turn to God. 

God wants us to depend on Him. He wants us to look to Him for guidance and provision. He took the Israelites into the wilderness to help them learn that lesson. There, He provided their food one day at a time. (No hoarding allowed!)  He protected them and led them, but they, like me, were slow and stubborn learners. They grumbled and complained and worried. (I, too, grumble, complain, and worry.)  They sought answers from false gods. (I may try to depend on money, health,  intelligence, or simply my own strength of will.)

So, I ask again, how are you doing? Is life currently pretty smooth and easy, or are you in one of your darker and more difficult moments? Whether you are “on the mountain top” or “the valley,” let me encourage you to call out to God. 

Psalm 23 compares us to sheep.  Sometimes God is making us “lie down in green pastures” and drink from still, safe waters. (Do we believe that WE created this moment of peace and plenty?) Sometimes God is walking with us, staff and rod in hand, through the “valley of the shadow of death.”  Evil is there, but God is bigger. Are we looking to Him and following Him? Many of us are squirting off in random directions, scurrying frantically to hide our fuzzy white butts behind some random, scraggly and completely inadequate scrub brush. While others of us are  baaahhing loudly and charging like some deranged ram who thinks he can solve this lion of a problem.

We will not survive because we “hang in there.” In fact, we THRIVE when we lean into God, when we trust and follow the Shepherd. This takes practice. This is hard. And the darker your valley, the harder trusting God can be. Satan preys on our fear, hoping to use it to separate us from the One who protects us. “Be angry with God,” he whispers.  “If He really loved you, you wouldn’t suffer.” When he whispers that lie, consider the hands of the Shepherd. They are nail scarred – for you, for me. Sin brings suffering into the world, and Christ knows all about it. His very heart suffered to bring you into His care. 

How often are you looking up to see where you are in relation to your Shepherd? Are you following close at His heels or have you wandered some distance away? Practice in the good days makes it a more instinctive response in the bad days. Thankfully, our Shepherd always hears and responds to us – regardless of how far we have wandered and how long it took us to notice. He does not dust his hands and say, “Well, you thought you could do it on your own.  You’ll just have to tough this one out.” Instead He says, “Come to me, all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” He then continues “Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”(Matthew 11:28-29 ESV) Learning from Jesus doesn’t mean the lesson is easy, but it will have eternal value and blessing.

Let me encourage you today to run to Him, looking up into His face minute to minute.  What do you really believe about your Shepherd? Will you trust Him? If it is any help or any encouragement, I want you to know that I have said, “Lord, I am angry, and I don’t understand.  This is not what I want… but I will trust You. However, I’m going to need help to do that.” Jesus knows our weaknesses and tenderly reaches out and offers to teach us the lesson of dependence. The honest prayer of a broken heart is heard. I am continuing to learn that I must depend on Him even to help me depend on Him. 

May God be glorified in our inadequacy.