Wednesday, March 7, 2012
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I'm on this country's interstates a lot, and it was on a day that we were driving along, and I just had this flashback of a time when our family was driving the Interstate and we saw this familiar bumper sticker. I said, "Oh, that's nice." And then I began to pass the car. I could tell from behind, that it was obviously a mother and a child in the front seat. But the significance of the message on the bumper didn't hit me until I pulled along side. I glanced over and it was obvious that the child had an evident disability, and that the mother had a very heavy burden. And I thought, "Boy, how does she cope with responsibility like that?" And then I remembered her bumper sticker and I had my answer. It just might be an answer for you too.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "How to Handle a Heavy Load."
Our word for today from the Word of God is going to come from Deuteronomy 33:25, and it relates very directly to that bumper sticker, which we'll get to in a minute. The words were familiar, but it may be a reminder that you need to hear to make it through this very heavy load. The words on the bumper sticker - you've probably seen it - simply said, "One day at a time."
Now, Jesus told us how to bear the cross of following Him. He said in Luke 9:23, "If anyone wants to come after Me, let him take up his cross..." You remember the next word? "...daily and follow Me." Now Deuteronomy 33:25 has this simple, profound, and enlightening statement, "Your strength will equal your years." It does not say that. It says, "Your strength will equal your days." God distributes strength to us in 24-hour allotments. You have no strength for tomorrow, today, or certainly for next week or next month or next year.
So, you're facing what appears to be let's say a mountain right now and you're saying, "I don't know how I'll get all this done!" Or, "I don't know how I'll make it through this crisis? I don't know how I'll cope." And the Lord says to you, "One day at a time. You don't have to take the mountain all at once. Don't try to handle that entire load at one time. Take it as I give it to you in 24-hour chunks."
My wife was very ill with hepatitis. She was in bed for nine months and it was like I lost my right arm; my partner, my strength, my great supporter. And I was Mr. Mom for our three kids as well as running a ministry. It had been about five weeks of trying to be Mom on top of everything else, and I remember my pastor's wife caught me at church and said, "How are you doing five weeks without your wife?" I said, "I didn't do five weeks; I did 35 days. That's the only way I knew to do it."
You know, you'll never have a day where you won't have enough strength. God promised. You have His word on it. If the Lord sends you a 20-pound day, you'll get 20 pounds of strength. He sends you 100-pound day, you'll get 100 pounds of strength; a hundred pounds of His supernatural resources. But don't try to borrow tomorrow's trouble. You don't have the strength yet. You go thinking about that and worrying about that, and you'll run ahead of your supply lines. But you'll have everything you need when that day comes. So live as God designed you to live. Cope as He's equipped you to cope - in 24-hour slices of life.
If you do it one day at a time, you'll make it through this because God's mercies are new every morning.