Excerpt from And I Heard Him Say... – by Heather Mertens
Some people have what they call “easy lives” with nothing major happening.
Others have lives filled with turmoil like a roller coaster. That would be mine early on.
But not now. ~ Heather
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I’ve been through so much, God. I want to know why? Why did you allow things in my life that were so incredibly difficult? Why did I feel such a heavy burden for so long and on so many occasions? Why did you allow more than I could handle? I see that I messed up so much because I couldn’t handle it.
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And I Heard Him Say~
I never said that exactly. There is more to it. Where did you hear that?
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Well sure you did. Every Christian I know says that very phrase to encourage. I have encouraged others with those words. You did… in your Bible.
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And I Heard Him Say~
Did you read it for yourself?
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I read the Bible. I turn to it for living my life. I study it. I didn’t always. But I remember that, I think. No… no, I don’t remember reading that exactly. I just trusted everyone else who seemed like they knew it was there.
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And I Heard Him Say~
Always trust in my promises as I promised them. It’s right there in 1 Corinthians 10:13. ‘No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation He will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.’ My Son was tempted as Man. But just like I helped Him, I also help you. I will always provide the way of escape so that you make it through.
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Ah. You provide the way. THE way. I remember that. Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life.” You mean if I had turned to Jesus every time something came into my life that I thought was more than I could handle, then I would not have had the trouble dealing with it that I did? I could have trusted in you to help me escape? That sounds so easy.
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And I Heard Him Say~
While the path is narrow and never easy, it can be peaceful and endured if you trust in Me.
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Lesson learned once again. Look it up for myself because it is ultimately about MY relationship with you.
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And I Heard Him Say~
Yes, the others mean well, but they do not always go look for the truth themselves just as you have not and have learned now to do. Trust in Me. I will never forsake you.
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What does God mean when he says He will not allow us to be tempted beyond our ability?
I believe He means for us to turn to Him to handle it. He CAN handle it. He gives us the strength, the knowledge, and even the power through Him to handle whatever comes our way. He doesn’t mean we won’t have things TO handle. I like this to lean on:
I can do all things through him who strengthens me. Philippians 4:13
Ability means ‘the state of being able.’ How do we get into that state? We obtain ‘sufficient power, skill, and resources’ which means being ‘able.’
Woah! Sufficient power? If we had sufficient power, we would always be able to handle the adversities of life. So, I asked the next obvious question: How do we get that?
How we get that is by trusting God. That is exactly what I learned to do through the pain, through the madness, through the burdens, through the fear. I CHOSE to trust Him. He will provide the way to escape and we’ll come out transformed. We will be ready to tackle the next obstacle in a way that we are trusting that He will provide. The human experience of Jesus was more than any human could handle — it brought death. But the way of escape was provided by God to be risen again; to live again! We can live again after each temptation and trial.
So much carries a temptation or trial in our lives. It did in Jesus’ life as well. That is why it says ‘common to man’. These things that are common to man are what we face daily. The death of a child, parent, or spouse, losing everything in financial ruin, facing diseases that debilitate everyday life: these are all things we cannot handle. But with His strength we can make it through. Not our own. Ask for His strength.
Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength. – Nehemiah 8:10
Those hard to handle things can tempt you to live in defeat, with a spirit of anger, treating others badly. They can even tempt you to stray outside of a relationship to find comfort elsewhere. The list of temptations goes on and on. Those become hang-ups we live with for years and for some, sadly, they last a lifetime. It really is all about the CHOICE.
Why are we going through these things that are so hard to handle? Why does God allow these things? He’s supposed to be a good God, right? ‘Why is this happening, God?’ is a thought nearly everyone has had.
He is good. He loves us more than we can even fathom. We are to strive to be Christ-like. In fact we are told to rejoice in our sufferings. What? Rejoice? How on earth are we going to do that?
Exactly! It is not by earthly means. Jesus prayed for God’s Will to be done on earth as it is in Heaven. How do we get to that? By learning that through our hard times we can be confident in knowing that God will provide an escape. He can use it to grow and strengthen us and those around us — if we let Him. For that reason I can rejoice in those sufferings. I can be at peace knowing that these things — that are too hard to handle — were never suffered in vain.
Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. – Romans 5:3-5
We limit Him when we say and believe things that are not in His word. We limit His work. That is something I never want to do again.
It is all about the CHOICE.
Everyday we are faced with choices. We can either choose what will make our lives and the lives of those around us better, or we can choose what will make our lives and the lives of those around us worse.
Your life can be redeemed and every day can be a new Grace. One that can be your escape in Him.
~Heather
This post originally appeared at 40YearWanderer.com. It can be reblogged with all links and exact wording intact, but can not be copied without permission.
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