11 Oct 2017

When You Can’t, Remember God Can

Life is full of challenges and hurdles that at times seem to shake our very core.  If you have been on this earth for any length of time, or have any real-life experiences under your belt you can identify.  Perhaps you have gone through a season where life has been pretty “status quo” and you’re consistently maintaining; or even better, you’ve been in the midst of an “open heaven” where blessings abound on every side; or maybe your season of tough times seems like an eternity.  Regardless of which of these scenarios you have ever found yourself in, there are some situations we are faced with when we reach a point where we just can’t!  Just can’t deal with it, just can’t face it, just can’t take anymore, just can’t push any further.  I CAN’T!   But there is a God who says I CAN!

When we reach the point of I CAN’T it is clearly our innermost feelings screaming I’ve reached my limitation.  More than anyone in this world, God knows what we’re feeling.  Those who struggle in their relationship with God or do not proclaim to have one, in these instances label God as a cruel, all powerful supreme being that delights in seeing people suffer.  In no way in that the case.  In fact, God is just the opposite.  He feels your pain and unhappiness to a greater extent than you do.  Why? Because He created you and He holds not only the answer but the key to the outcome of your circumstance.

My 5-year-old grandson started a phrase that caught the attention of our entire family and others a couple of years go.   Whenever he was asked or told to do something he didn’t want to, he would tell us “I Can’t”.  The funniest part about it was the seriousness and the manner which he would say it.  He would say it in a kind of southern flat sounding tone.   For you English students he would pronounce the A as a long A instead of a short A, making it sound very “country”!  Of course, that even made it funnier because none of us speak like that.  But anytime we found ourselves facing difficult, pressing situations we would defer to Julian’s phrase “I Can’t”.  We were declaring, I don’t want to deal with, I can’t deal with it, I am just unable to even take anymore! 

At first it became the family joke, but then we found ourselves saying it and meaning it!  However, God was always there listening and waiting saying, “I know you can’t, but I can, just give it to me”.  The mistake is often made by telling someone who is at the point of despair to stay strong, because they can take it, or they can make it.  When in actuality, they are at the breaking point.  Giving up to God many times is precisely the best thing to do.   The saying is true that God will never give us more than we can bear, but He doesn’t give us anything small or great, that He expects us to bear without Him.  Life will always present unexplainable situations that we seem unable to find answers for. 

Sometimes God will reveal in detail why He permits certain things to occur, but other times He just works them out  —  in His own time, His own way.   But just like little children we want to say “But why Daddy”?  And just like any parent, He is not obligated to give a detailed explanation.  As we mature spiritually and naturally we so often lose that essential characteristic of childlike faith that is referenced in St. Matthew 18: 2 – 4:

“And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him
In the midst of them,
And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be
converted, and become as little children,
ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.
Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this
child, the same is the greatest in the
Kingdom of heaven.”

The instructions are simple and clear.  First, we must know that Jesus is calling us.  He’s not too busy with everything else, nor everyone else to be concerned about what concerns you.  Then you must convert (change) your “adult” ways of doing things. Are they working for you right now anyway?    Finally humble yourself.  Come to grips that this “thing” is bigger than you and you really CAN’T handle it without God!   One thing for sure when He works it out, it will be for your good.  You are on this earth for a purpose, God’s purpose.  Therefore, He is going to work things out for your good because your purpose filled life directly reflects Him!

Source: First Lady Denise