July 25, 2022
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A new staff couple had just arrived with their U-Haul truck, moving to our area from the Southwest. And a bunch of us were there to meet them and help them move into their apartment. Our then-four-year-old grandson insisted on joining the moving crew. I was inside the truck, handing out items as helpers came to get some more, and no one made more trips than the youngest mover there. Now, I didn't give him the couch to carry, or the dresser or the TV set. You know, I gave him small boxes, small appliances, light objects to carry. There's only so much a four-year-old can handle. Or even someone who's a lot more than four years old - like me, for example.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Never More Than You Can Carry."
We all have some loads to carry; that's the nature of life. And sometimes it's so heavy that it takes everything we've got to keep from dropping it or caving in beneath the weight. Maybe this is one of those seasons of heavy burdens for you. I've got some good news for you-news that's contained in our word for today from the Word of God in 1 Corinthians 10:13. Here is your Heavenly Father's promise: "God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted (or the word can also be translated "tested") beyond what you can bear. For when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so you can stand up under it."
Did you get that, "Never more than you can bear"? Just like that day I handed loads to my grandson for him to carry. I knew what he could handle. I wouldn't give him more than he could carry. Well, neither will your Father in heaven who loves you infinitely and knows you completely. Everything comes into your life as a child of God, it has to be Father-filtered first. Whether your Father sends it or allows it, no burden, no temptation can come into your life unless He has first signed off on it. Will He allow burdens that take you to the limit? Yes, He will. Ask any athlete who's ever used the weight room. The only way you can get stronger is if you have to lift something heavier than you've lifted before. But God knows your limit, and while He may allow you to go to the edge so you can experience His power, He will never allow you to go over the edge.
Maybe you feel like Mother Teresa who is reported to have said, "I know God trusts me and He will never let me have more than I can handle. I just wish He didn't trust me so much." Well, in a very real way, God's trust is what your burdens are all about. Look at Job. He had no idea that his motives for serving God were being challenged by Satan himself in heaven. And the devil knew he couldn't do anything bad to Job unless God allowed him to. And God looks at his servant Job and says, "I can trust this man with a very heavy load. He will not betray me. He will not stop trusting me." And with one tragedy after another flooding into his life, Job proves he is a man God can trust. And, in the process, he humiliates the devil who was sure he could embarrass God with Job's betrayal.
If you're having to carry something really heavy right now, realize you are indeed being trusted by God with this burden. He believes you can handle it, with His unlimited power as your strength. He believes you won't let Him down. And He knows you will emerge from this struggle stronger and more valuable than you've ever been. For Job, it meant receiving twice what he had lost during his time of testing.
Your Father loves you. Your Father knows what you can handle. He knows what He can trust you with. There's something much bigger, something much more eternal going on here than you could possibly imagine, maybe even a contest over you between the devil and God Himself.
Carry your burden faithfully, with undiminished allegiance to your Lord and daily downloading of the mighty grace of God. And as your Father hands you today's load to carry, be sure that He knows how much you can handle, and He will never give you more than you can carry.