God Never Gives You More Than You Can Handle, So You Say?

I used to think I had to fight my spiritual battles. I would find an opportunity to slip an intentional God comment into a conversation…like that would determine if I won the “battle” for someone’s soul or not. I realize now though, that’s not how you fight a spiritual battle. No, in fact, you don’t fight it. God does.

All He requires of me is to stand firm on His promises. And trust and obey. When I’m listening to His voice and He tells me to obey Him in an area of life I have to surrender, when He nudges me with the occasional gut-prompting, that’s the confident assurance that He’s covering me with. And so, after discerning His will – He takes our submission to Him to the next level and will work on our behalf.

When Moses lifted his arms over the Israelites in battle, they won. God did the fighting through them. So whether you’re in a position like Moses’ or a part of the movement toward victory in Christ, He is going to use you and work through you.

Today I saw God work through me in the fact that I came inches away from two metal car hoods coming through my windshield. A trailer pulled out in front of me and swiftly drove by across the road. I noticed his speed was fast, too fast for that load. The next thing I know two car hoods were tumbling across the road coming directly at me. In that moment, waiting to see which way the hoods would travel across the road, I braced myself and anticipated the dodging I would have to do if they came too close. And when they did come too close I dodged them, also employing a simple prayer. “Jesus!” I cried.

See, that’s my go-to prayer in these type of situations. The earnest calling on Him to deliver me from the situation and put the results in His hands. He’s the one in control, I’m just reasserting myself and the situation and the forces unseen in the situation. Guess what? Physical properties and forces are related to spiritual ones. When the battle turned into a risk in the material world, I praise Him that He not only answered my prayer, but was good to me in answering it for my good and His glory.

So going back around to the point that the battle belongs to the Lord: situations hinge on more than just the wills of people involved. God is watching over us, calling us to His side. He wants to shield us, lift us onto His shoulders and fight that battle for us.

Could you be trying to fight the battle on your own, employing your strength and limited resources? How far will that get you, if in the end, it’s accomplished in vain? Do the responsibilities you have cause you to come to the end of your own efforts and simply surrender to Him who can more than handle it all? They should.

They say, “God never gives you more than you can handle.” My former pastor used to say, “God gives you more than you can handle, so that you may turn and lean on Him and trust in His supply.”

Where does my strength end and God’s carry through? Ask God to open your spiritual eyes and take note of when you call on Him for strength. He’s going to do that heavy lifting, not you. So when He says “if you have faith enough to move mountains,” just rely on Him to do the moving. You just believe and obey His words.