Will God Give Me More Than I Can Handle?

Interview with John Piper

It’s Monday. A new week. New tasks. New burdens. New mercies. And podcast listener Fabian writes in to ask, “Dear Pastor John, this phrase — ‘God will never give us more than what we can handle’ — is often used when someone is facing life challenges, sufferings, and trials. Based on the Bible, is this phrase biblically correct?”

Whether that statement — “God will never give us more than we can handle” — is biblically correct depends on what we mean by “we” and “handle.”

“If I survive any test or accomplish any work when I am tested, it is decisively grace, not decisively me.”

What does “we” mean? Does “we” mean God takes into account our independent possibilities based on our track record of handling trouble and, thus, measures out that trouble to us so that it doesn’t go beyond what “we” independently by our own resources can handle? Is that what “we” means?

Or, does “we” mean that we can handle it if we receive it by faith in divine assistance and that God knows what he himself will give us by grace in enabling us to handle what he gives us — so he is not thinking of “we” as independent, but “we” as dependent on the grace that comes with the difficulty? Which of those two does this statement ask about?

And “handle.” What does “handle” mean? Does “handle” mean you never collapse under it? Does it mean you never fail in any task? Does it mean you never mess up? Does it mean you never fail to get a B+ on every one of life’s tests? Or does “handle” mean you never fail so that you never recover or repent or restore reconciliation and that you are finally lost because you failed? Which does “handle” mean?

So, to answer all of that and give my answer to the question, let’s just look at the key texts that I think he probably has in mind. First Corinthians 10:13, “no temptation” — or “test” since it is the same word in Greek — “no test has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted [tested] beyond your ability” — or beyond what you are able — “but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.”

When Paul says he won’t give what is beyond what you are able, he means, not beyond what you are able with God’s help. We know that because of a couple of other things he says. For example, in 2 Corinthians 9:8 he says, “God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.” In other words, in every test or temptation, the question is, “Will I do what I ought to do?” And Paul says, “There will be grace,” not just, “I am depending on you to use your resources without depending on grace.” “I am giving you grace so there will be grace to do it. But you are not independent of my powers to help.”

And he said in 1 Corinthians 15:10, “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.” In other words, if I survive any test or accomplish any work when I am tested, it is grace, decisively grace, not decisively me.

So, my answer to the first query, “What does ‘we’ mean in this statement: ‘God will never give us more than “we” can handle’?” is that “we” means we who are helped by sovereign grace, not we independent of the power of God’s help.

And then the question is, “What does ‘handle’ mean? Never stumble? Never fail? Never get a C- or an F on a particular test that God gives?” And my answer is, “No, it doesn’t mean that.” If we had perfect reliance on all that he is for us in Christ, we would pass every test glowingly. But God does not promise that kind of perfect reliance on his omnipotent grace.

Well then, what is being promised when he says that we will always have with every test an escape and when he says that we will have grace for every good work? And I think what is promised is ultimately this: He will never let us so stumble or so fail that we don’t recover and repent and are restored. In other words, he will never let us sin our way into apostasy and damnation. He will enable us to bear the fruits of genuine faith and perseverance to the end.

“God will never give his people trials in which he will not sustain them and bring them through to everlasting glory.”

And here are the texts that make me think that:

• Philippians 1:6, “He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”
• Romans 8:30, “Those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.” He is going to keep you.
• Luke 22:31–32, “Simon, Simon,” Jesus says to Peter, “behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat” — get your faith out of you. “But I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.” I prayed for you. Yes, you are going to deny me tonight, but I am bringing you back. You are going to get an F on this test tonight, and I am going to make you pass your life test.
• 1 Peter 1:5, “By God’s power [we] are being guarded through faith for a salvation.” God’s power is guarding me. He won’t let me fail in any test utterly.
• 1 Corinthians 1:8, “[He] will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

So, here’s my conclusion: God will never give us more than we can handle. Is that biblically correct? Yes, if we mean God will never give his people trials in which he will not sustain them and bring them through to everlasting glory. We will be enabled to do all we must do to get there.

36 Purposes of God in Our Suffering

by Paul Tautges

Joni Eareckson Tada has given us many books on the subject of God’s tender care for His children in times of suffering. Joni strikes the chord of authenticity with us so well because suffering is the world she lives in 24/7. My personal favorite is When God Weeps: Why Our Sufferings Matter to the Almighty, co-authored with Steve Estes, a pastor in Pennsylvania. The following list of God’s purposes in our suffering is from one of the appendices in that book.

Take some time to meditate on the wisdom of God as He works out His perfect will through our suffering. No wonder James, the brother of our Lord, commanded us to “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials” (James 1:2)!

1. Suffering is used to increase our awareness of the sustaining power of God to whom we owe our sustenance (Ps 68:19).
2. God uses suffering to refine, perfect, strengthen, and keep us from falling (Ps 66:8-9; Heb 2:10).
3. Suffering allows the life of Christ to be manifested in our mortal flesh (2 Cor 4:7-11).
4. Suffering bankrupts us, making us dependent upon God (2 Cor 12:9).
5. Suffering teaches us humility (2 Cor 12:7).
6. Suffering imparts the mind of Christ (Phil 2:1-11).
7. Suffering teaches us that God is more concerned about character than comfort (Rom 5:3-4; Heb 12:10-11).
8. Suffering teaches us that the greatest good of the Christian life is not absence of pain, but Christlikeness (2 Cor 4:8-10; Rom 8:28-29).
9. Suffering can be a chastisement from God for sin and rebellion (Ps 107:17).
10. Obedience and self-control are from suffering (Heb 5:8; Ps 119:67; Rom 5:1-5; James 1:2-8; Phil 3:10).
11. Voluntary suffering is one way to demonstrate the love of God (2 Cor 8:1-2, 9).
12. Suffering is part of the struggle against sin (Heb 12:4-13).
13. Suffering is part of the struggle against evil men (Ps 27:12; 37:14-15).
14. Suffering is part of the struggle for the kingdom of God (2 Thess 1:5).
15. Suffering is part of the struggle for the gospel (2 Tim 2:8-9).
16. Suffering is part of the struggle against injustice (1 Pet 2:19).
17. Suffering is part of the struggle for the name of Christ (Acts 5:41; 1 Pet 4:14).
18. Suffering indicates how the righteous become sharers in Christ’s suffering (2 Cor 1:5; 1 Pet 4:12-13).
19. Endurance of suffering is given as a cause for reward (2 Cor 4:17; 2 Tim 2:12).
20. Suffering forces community and the administration of the gifts for the common good (Phil 4:12-15).
21. Suffering binds Christians together into a common or joint purpose (Rev 1:9).
22. Suffering produces discernment, knowledge, and teaches us God’s statutes (Ps 119:66-67, 71).
23. Through suffering God is able to obtain our broken and contrite spirit which He desires (Ps 51:16-17).
24. Suffering causes us to discipline our minds by making us focus our hope on the grace to be revealed at the revelation of Jesus Christ (1 Pet 1:6, 13).
25. God uses suffering to humble us so He can exalt us at the proper time (1 Pet 5:6-7).
26. Suffering teaches us to number our days so we can present to God a heart of wisdom (Ps 90:7-12).
27. Suffering is sometimes necessary to win the lost (2 Tim 2:8-10; 4:5-6).
28. Suffering strengthens and allows us to comfort others who are weak (2 Cor 1:3-11).
29. Suffering is small compared to the surpassing value of knowing Christ (Phil 3:8).
30. God desires truth in our innermost being and one way He does it is through suffering (Ps 51:6; 119:17).
31. The equity for suffering will be found in the next life (Ps 58:10-11).
32. Suffering is always coupled with a greater source of grace (2 Tim 1:7-8; 4:16-18).
33. Suffering teaches us to give thanks in times of sorrow (1 Thess 5:17; 2 Cor 1:11).
34. Suffering increases faith (Jer 29:11).
35. Suffering allows God to manifest His care (Ps 56:8).
36. Suffering stretches our hope (Job 13:14-15).

Out of His deep love for us, God is more interested in making His children like Christ than He is in making us comfortable. The glory He receives from redeeming depraved sinners like us and remaking us into His image will be the song that fills the halls of heaven for all eternity (Rev 5:9-10). Since that will be the case in the future, let us pursue joy in the Lord here in the present.

[The above list makes a great personal Bible study or the basis for small group discussion.]

Mercy for Today

Devotional by John Piper, Solid Joy Devotionals

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.(Lamentations 3:22–23)

God’s mercies are new every morning because each day only has enough mercy in it for that day. God appoints every day’s troubles. And God appoints every day’s mercies. In the life of his children, they are perfectly appointed. Jesus said, “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble” (Matthew 6:34). Every day has its own trouble. Every day has its own mercies. Each is new every morning.

But we often tend to despair when we think that we may have to bear tomorrow’s load on today’s resources. God wants us to know: We won’t. Today’s mercies are for today’s troubles. Tomorrow’s mercies are for tomorrow’s troubles.

Sometimes we wonder if we will have the mercy to stand in terrible testing. Yes, we will. Peter says, “If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you” (1 Peter 4:14). When the reviling comes, the Spirit of glory comes. It happened for Stephen as he was being stoned. It will happen for you. When the Spirit and the glory are needed, they will come.

The manna in the wilderness was given one day at a time. There was no storing up. That is the way we must depend on God’s mercy. You do not receive today the strength to bear tomorrow’s burdens. You are given mercies today for today’s troubles.

Tomorrow the mercies will be new. “God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord” (1 Corinthians 1:9).

Who Causes Your Suffering? The Sovereignty of God and Reality of Evil

Article by Christopher Ash, Guest contributor at DesiringGod.org

When suffering comes to us, we naturally — instinctively — want to know what or who has caused it. The answer to that question often affects how we respond to the pain. We focus immediately on the obvious causes. For an illness, we think about what has gone wrong with our body biochemistry. After an accident, we visit and revisit what happened, how it happened and whose fault it was.

“When suffering comes to us, we naturally — instinctively — want to know what or who has caused it.”

When a so-called “natural” disaster strikes, we may think about why people were living where they lived, why the early warnings didn’t work, why the flood defenses were inadequate, and so on. We want to blame somebody or something. And, whether or not we can blame a human agent, behind all that we want to blame God. For God — if there is a God — must have something to do with it all.

After that, we may react with bitterness, recriminations, or resentment. Perhaps these are specific, or maybe we are just left with a residual sense that we have been unfairly treated. At the beginning of the book of Job, Job suffers four terrible tragedies (Job 1:13–19) before losing his health (Job 2:7–8). Two of the four tragedies we might today call “natural disasters” (although the Bible never uses this expression); the other two would perhaps come under the label of “terrorism.”

God’s Job or Satan’s?

One of the deepest questions in the book of Job is this: who caused Job’s terrible sufferings? There is one clear answer, given or assumed by Job, by his three so-called “comforters,” and by the divinely-inspired storyteller. This answer is expressed crisply at the end of the book, where the narrator describes how Job’s family and friends “comforted him for all the evil that the Lord had brought upon him” (Job 42:11).

The Lord, the covenant God, is the one who brought these sufferings upon Job. He did not simply allow them; he caused them to come upon Job (the Hebrew verb here indicates active causality). Job shows that he knows this is true when he says, “. . . the Lord has taken away” (Job 1:21). He reiterates this conviction when he says to his wife, “Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?” (Job 2:10). In saying this, the inspired narrator indicates that “Job did not sin or charge God with wrong. . . . Job did not sin with his lips” (Job 1:22; 2:10). Job believes God has done it; and Job is right to believe this.

In both Job 2:10 and Job 42:11, the word translated “evil” indicates not moral evil, but disaster — things that are terrible to experience. The three friends share this conviction. The most common title for God in the book is “the Almighty” (e.g. Job 5:17).

God’s Strange Servant

But under and alongside this shared conviction of the active sovereignty of God, there is an important subsidiary conviction: Satan causes Job’s sufferings. Satan (or, more properly, “the Satan” – this is more of a title than a name, and means something like “the adversary”) is a supernatural creature who has a strange place in the council or cabinet of the “sons of God” (ESV) or “angels” (NIV). He is utterly evil and malicious; and yet he has a job to do. It is his “hand” that actively strikes Job (Job 1:12; 2:6). So, in a sense, he causes them. But as we see if we read the book carefully, he is not the ultimate cause.

“Satan is God’s strange servant to do the will of God by afflicting Job with suffering.”

Older liberal commentators take the easy way out of splitting Job into a part in which God causes Job’s sufferings and a part in which Satan causes them. So, for example, H.H. Rowley takes the words “that the Lord had brought upon him” in Job 42:11 as simply indicating the (erroneous) assumptions shared by Job and his friends. But these words are spoken by the inspired narrator of the story, so we must not take this erroneous, albeit easy, way out.

But more responsible commentators recognize that the Bible holds these together. The parallel accounts of David’s census demonstrate this same parallelism of views. Who motivated David to call this census? The Lord did (2 Samuel 24:1); and Satan did (1 Chronicles 21:1). The Bible — and the book of Job — hold these together. Satan is God’s strange servant to do the will of God by afflicting Job with suffering. Satan does this out of malice; the Lord out of a loving concern for his glory. Satan is — as Luther so vividly put it — “God’s Satan.”

Those who reject the sovereignty of God will either ignore clear verses on God’s sovereignty over our suffering (like Job 1:21; 2:10; 42:11) or assign it (as Rowley does) to the possibly mistaken view of the human characters. Nevertheless, when referring to the “evil” that came upon Job, it is clear “that the Lord had brought [it] upon him” (Job 42:11). This is clear throughout the book and it is written for our instruction.

Evil for Our Ultimate Good

It is of great pastoral importance that we grasp what the Bible teaches about the causality of disaster when it comes to believers. There are two common mistakes. On the one hand, we may neglect Satan altogether and just assume that God rules the world in a simple and direct way. This is, I am told, close to the view of Islam. Some Christians tacitly assume this, but it is not the teaching of the Bible. On the other hand, we may think of Satan as a second, independent, autonomous power of evil, in which case the universe becomes a terrifyingly uncertain place, since we may never be sure whether God or Satan will win any particular round of their contest.

“Satan strikes Job out of malice. The Lord strikes Job out of a loving concern for his glory.”

The Bible, however, teaches that God has chosen to exercise his absolute, direct, and intentional sovereign government of the world through the agency of his chosen council or cabinet of intermediate powers (the “sons of God” or “angels”), some of whom are evil. These powers have no autonomy whatsoever. And yet, in the purposes of God, they are significant and do exert influence, as God has chosen that they will.

To grasp this deep truth about the government of the universe will give Christian believers great confidence — for the sovereignty of God is unchallenged — and yet also great realism, for we will take seriously the role of supernatural evil in the infinite wisdom of God, who is himself utterly untouched by evil, and yet who chooses to weave evil into his purposes of ultimate good.

Christopher Ash is Writer-in-Residence at Tyndale House in Cambridge, England. He is married to Carolyn. Christopher has written a number of books, including the commentary Job: The Wisdom of the Cross.

Why We Call the Worst Friday ‘Good’

Article by  David Mathis . Executive Editor, desiringGod.org

It was the single most horrible day in the history of the world.

No incident has ever been more tragic, and no future event will ever match it. No surprise attack, no political assassination, no financial collapse, no military invasion, no atomic detonation or nuclear warfare, no cataclysmic act of terrorism, no large-scale famine or disease — not even slave trading, ethnic cleansing, or decades-long religious warring can eclipse the darkness of that day.

No suffering has ever been so unfitting. No human has ever been so unjustly treated, because no other human has ever been so worthy of praise. No one else has ever lived without sin. No other human has ever been God himself. No horror surpasses what transpired on a hill outside Jerusalem almost two millennia ago.

And yet we call it “Good” Friday.

What Man Meant for Evil

For Jesus, that most horrible of days dawned in Roman custody at the governor’s headquarters. His own people had turned him over to the oppressive empire. The thread that held the Jewish nation together was its pining for a promised ruler in the line of their great beloved King David. Both David himself, and the prophets who came before and after him, pointed the people to an even greater king who was to come. Yet when he finally came, his people — the very nation that ordered its collective life around waiting for him — did not see him for who he was. They rejected their own Messiah.

“It was the single most horrible day in the history of the world. No incident has or ever will be more tragic.”

In his own day, David had seen pagans plot against him as God’s anointed one. “Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against his Anointed” (Psalm 2:1–2). But now David’s words had come true of his greater descendant, as Jesus’s own people turned on him to hand him over to Rome.

Judas Meant It for Evil

Judas wasn’t the first to plot against Jesus, but he was the first to “deliver him over” (Matthew 26:15) — the language of responsibility which the Gospels repeat again and again.

The schemes against Jesus began long before Judas realized money might be made available to a mole. What began with maneuvering to entangle Jesus in his words (Matthew 22:15) soon devolved into a conspiracy to put him to death (Matthew 26:4). And Judas’s love for money made him a strategic first domino to fall in delivering Jesus to death.

Jesus had seen it coming. He told his disciples ahead of time, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem. And the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes . . .” (Matthew 20:18). At first the traitor was nameless. Now he emerges from Jesus’s own inner circle of twelve. One of his close friends will turn on him (Psalm 41:9), and for a slave’s price (Zechariah 11:12–13): thirty filthy pieces of silver.

Jewish Leaders Meant It for Evil

But Judas didn’t act alone. Jesus himself had foretold that “the chief priests and scribes” would “condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified” (Matthew 20:18–19). And it all unfolded according to plan. “The band of soldiers and their captain and the officers of the Jews” arrested him and delivered him to Pilate (John 18:12, 30). As Pilate would acknowledge to Jesus, “Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered you over to me” (John 18:35).

On the day God’s chosen Messiah was grossly and unjustly executed, the human agents of evil standing at the helm were the formal officers of God’s chosen people. Fault would not be limited to them, but to them much had been given, and much would be required (Luke 12:48). Jesus was clear with Pilate who deserved more blame: “he who delivered me over to you has the greater sin” (John 19:11).

Even Pilate could tell why the Jewish leaders had it out for Jesus: “He perceived that it was out of envy that the chief priests had delivered him up” (Mark 15:10). They saw Jesus winning favor with the people, and quaked at the prospect of their own influence eroding (John 12:19). Jesus’s rise to renown posed such a threat to their fragile sense of authority, with its accompanying privilege, that liberal priests and conservative scribes crossed the aisle to work together.

Pilate Meant It for Evil

In a web of wickedness, guilty parties serve their complementary roles. The Jewish leaders drove the plan, Judas served as catalyst, and Pilate too had his own part to play, however passive. He would try to cleanse the guilt from his conscience by publicly washing his hands of the whole affair, but he was not able get himself off the hook.

As the ranking Roman onsite, he could have put an end to the injustice he saw unfolding in front of him. He knew it was evil. Both Luke and John record three clear instances of Pilate declaring, “I find no guilt in him” (Luke 23:14–15, 20, 22; John 18:38; 19:4, 6). In such a scenario, a righteous ruler would not only have vindicated the accused, but seen to it that he was protected from subsequent harm from his accusers. Yet, ironically, finding no guilt in Jesus became the cause for Pilate’s guilt, as he bowed to what seemed politically expedient in the moment.

“There is not one day, one loss, or one pain in your life over which God cannot write ‘good.’”

First, Pilate tried to bargain. He offered to release a notorious criminal. But the people called his bluff, incited by their leaders, and called for the release of the guilty instead. Now Pilate was cornered. He washed his hands as a show and “released for them Barabbas, and having scourged Jesus, delivered him to be crucified” (Matthew 27:26; Mark 15:15). Pilate’s part, no doubt, was more reactive than the conspiring Jewish leaders, but when “he delivered Jesus over to their will” (Luke 23:25) he joined them in their wickedness.

The People Meant It for Evil

The rank and file played their part as well. They allowed themselves to be incited by their conniving officials. They called for the release of a man they knew was guilty in place of a man who was innocent. Rightly would the apostle Peter preach in Acts 3:13–15 as he addressed the people of Jerusalem,

You delivered [Jesus] over and denied [him] in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release him. But you denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead.

As the early Christians in Jerusalem would pray, “Truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel” (Acts 4:27). Neither Herod nor the Romans are clean as well. In the end, in a surprising turn, Jews and Gentiles worked together to kill the Author of life.

And soon enough we come to find that it’s not only Judas, Pilate, the leaders, and the people who are implicated. We see our own evil, even as we see through the blackness of this Friday to the light of God’s goodness: we delivered him over. “Christ died for our sins” (1 Corinthians 15:3). Jesus was “delivered up for our trespasses” (Romans 4:25). He “gave himself for our sins” (Galatians 1:4). “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree” (1 Peter 2:24). What we meant for evil, God meant for good.

God Meant It for Good

God was at work, doing his greatest good in our most horrible evil. Over and in and beneath the spiraling evil of Judas, the Jewish leaders, Pilate, the people, and all forgiven sinners, God’s hand is steady, never to blame for evil, ever working it for our final good. As Peter would soon preach, Jesus was “delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God” (Acts 2:23). And as the early Christians would pray, “Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, [did] whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place” (Acts 4:27–28).

Never has Joseph’s banner flown so truly as it did on that day: what man meant for evil, God meant for good(Genesis 50:20). And if this day, of all days, bears not only the fingerprints of sinners for evil, but also the sovereign hand of God for good, how can we not fly Joseph’s banner over the great tragedies and horrors of our lives? Since God himself “did not spare his own Son but gave him upfor us all, how will he not with him graciously give us all things” for our everlasting good (Romans 8:32)?

God wrote “good” on the single worst day in the history of the world. And there is not one day — or week, month, year, or lifetime of suffering — not one trauma, not one loss, not one pain, momentary or chronic, over which God cannot write “good” for you in Christ Jesus.

Satan and sinful man meant that Friday for evil, but God meant it for good, and so we call it Good Friday.

David Mathis (@davidcmathis) is executive editor for desiringGod.org and pastor at Cities Churchin Minneapolis. He is a husband, father of four, and author of Habits of Grace: Enjoying Jesus through the Spiritual Disciplines.

10 Things You Should Know about Suffering

Article by: Dave Furman

1. Suffering is a result of the fall.

God warned Adam that eating the forbidden fruit would result in death (Gen 2). Romans 5:12 confirms that this happened after Adam’s fall, “Just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned.” Death (and the accompanying pain and suffering) came as a result of that first sin and our continued sin. Pain, suffering, and death—in and of themselves—are not good.

2. God uses suffering for good.

Thankfully, Romans 8 tells us “That for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” God never tells us our pain is good, but he uses pain to work for our good in his miraculous and mysterious way.

One of the ways God uses pain is to wake us up and bring up to himself. Our tendency in times of trial may be to run away from God, become angry with God, or idolize worldly comfort. Charles Spurgeon said it well when he encouraged us to look to God in our pain. He is attributed with saying, “I have learned to kiss the wave that throws me against the Rock of Ages.” We need to realize that God is in control over all our circumstances . . . and he is good. We need to open our eyes in our pain and see that our circumstances are taking us right to God.

3. We can’t always see what God is doing in our pain.

Augustine wrote of God and our circumstances, “If you understand, it is not God you understand.” We can hardly scratch the surface of the intentionality, creativity, and wisdom of God’s handiwork. Who can give him counsel or criticize his work? Proverbs 16:4 says, “The Lord has made everything for its purpose.” We can trust that God is always doing more than we can fathom.

We need to realize that God is in control over all our circumstances . . . and he is good.

4. God uses suffering to mature us in Christ.

James 1 says, “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” Trials can be counted as joy because God is persevering our faith. He is making us more like Christ, and that is always gain.

5. Persevering through suffering allows us to comfort others who suffer.

God brings us through suffering so we can comfort others who are suffering. 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.” The best burden-bearers are the ones who’ve needed someone to carry their burdens in the past.

6. Suffering opens up ministry opportunities you’ve never dreamed of.

Growing up with a healthy body I never knew one day my life and ministry would include encouraging the hurting and helping those who care for the hurting. I am in constant pain—each day I feel burning sensations and sharp pains in both of my arms. I can’t put on my seatbelt, open a bottle of water, button my shirt, or shake hands with my friends. In the past couple of years I have begun to feel similar symptoms starting in my legs. Some days the pain is agonizing. Most nights I struggle to sleep. Depression has engulfed me on more than one occasion.

And yet! God’s grace is seen in the bright rays of light that shine through opportunities he has given me to encourage others. He has granted me grace to pastor out of weakness and witness to others about his unrelenting love. I never would have chosen or dreamed of a ministry like this—the Lord has done marvelous things.

7. God moves through weakness and suffering and not in spite of it.

Christianity teaches that the goal is not to eliminate pain and weakness (in this life), but for God to work in and through you in your pain. Paul had a thorn in his flesh and asked God multiple times but it remained. One could wonder how amazing Paul’s ministry would be if Paul didn’t have his thorn. But God didn’t use Paul despite his thorn, but through his thorn. God moves not in spite of our suffering, but through our suffering. Weakness is God’s way of moving in this world.

8. Our earthly perspective on the duration of suffering is very different from God’s.

Noah worked on an ark and waited for a flood. Abraham waited for a child with Sarah for years. Joseph was in prison for years. Moses wandered in the desert wilderness for 40 years. Hannah wept continually for a child. David fled from a wicked king for 13 years in the desert. Jeremiah “the weeping prophet” preached and saw no fruit for several decades. Paul faced imprisonment one after another. 2 Corinthians 4:17 gives us a healthy perspective on persevering in trials, “For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.”

9. Suffering can propel us into community.

My suffering has caused me to depend on the believing community for help, service, encouragement, and prayer. Though seeking help is humbling, it has an added bonus of friendship. I think of all the rides my friends Chris and Scott have given me over the years; I think of Glen’s encouragement; I think of John’s phone calls from halfway around the world and Darren and Kieron’s text messages. When we resist the urge to isolate ourselves God blesses us with sweet fellowship.

10. Christianity has the only solution to suffering.

All other religions have insufficient means of coping with and resolving pain and suffering. Some present plans of escape from the reality of pain. Some teach ways to placate the gods. Some tout karmic philosophies. Some focus on working for paradise—a place with no pain and unbounded pleasure.

But only Christianity provides true hope for the hurting. Suffering and death is inevitable for all of us but we can have hope because one has gone before us in death. Jesus Christ, truly God and truly man, lived a sinless life in our place. He faced various temptations and trials—betrayal by those closest to him, mockery, emotional anguish, physical agony, and most of all, judgment by God the Father.

When Jesus hung on the cross bearing the weight of his people’s sins, he not only faced the worst earthly death imaginable (reserved for only the worst criminals), he faced the overflowing cup of God’s wrath. But the story doesn’t end there with the death of Jesus.

Three days later he walked out of his tomb; Jesus had risen from the dead. Christ’s resurrection means that our pain and our trials and even our death are not the end of the story.

Dave Furman (ThM, Dallas Theological Seminary) serves as the senior pastor of Redeemer Church of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, which he planted in 2010. Dave and his wife, Gloria, have four children.

Article originally posted on Crossway.org:  https://www.crossway.org/articles/10-things-you-should-know-about-suffering/

Who Defines Your Joy?

by James Coffield  Dr. James Coffield serves as an associate professor of counseling and the clinical director of the master’s degree program in counseling at Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando, Fla.

It often seems as if God narrates the story of our lives with irony. Joy is often fleeting, and real joy is paradoxically birthed in the most challenging of times. As I am writing on this topic of joy, I have been dealing with significant sorrow. A few weeks ago, I was asked to speak at the funeral of a young friend. Is the buoyancy of joy possible when swimming in a sea of sorrow? Is real joy possible in a sin-stained, fallen world? As distant as it might seem at times, we know that joy is possible because Jesus prayed for us to have joy. Joy is included as one of the fruits of the Spirit. As I stood before hundreds of grieving friends and a young family left without a father, I asked God for His presence. The sense of aloneness was palpable. I asked the Creator to give me His perspective. The look of confusion was in the eyes of the congregation. I wanted to stand for His glorious purpose of declaring the truth, hope, and even joy of the gospel. God answered my prayer. Don’t misunderstand—it was a sad and sorrowful day. But sorrow and joy are not opposites, and sometimes they live precariously close to one another. I felt God’s presence. For a fleeting moment, I thought that I had a glimpse of His perspective, and I felt that I was given words of truth during a critical time. I experienced joy.

Joy flows from a particular way that one engages life. Joy is the product of praying for and entering into His presence, seeking His ultimate purpose, and stumbling toward His perspective.

I have set the Lord always before me; 
 because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.
Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices;
 my flesh also dwells secure.
For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol,
 or let your holy one see corruption.
You make known to me the path of life;
 in your presence there is fullness of joy;
 at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. (Ps. 16:8–11)

These verses are quoted by Peter in his sermon in Acts 2. He tells us that this psalm refers to Christ and to His resurrection. We are invited to enter into His joy and His suffering, and these Scriptures present us with some instructions to do just that. First, notice that he speaks of the Lord’s presence: “I have set the Lord always before me” and “in your presence there is fullness of joy.” God’s great promise in the gospel is not the absence of struggle or an easy life path, but that He will be with us: “I will be with you always, to the end of the age” (Matt. 28:20). We experience joy when we are aware of and focused upon His presence. Joy is not the elimination of sorrow but the presence of God in sorrow. Diligently pray that you will be aware of His presence.

God’s great promise in the gospel is not the absence of struggle or an easy life path, but that He will be with us.

Joy also comes when you know His purpose. “You make known to me the path of life.” Humans can endure great suffering and struggle when they feel that there is a purpose. In the concentration camps of World War II, researchers noticed that the strong did not always live and the weak were not always the most likely to die. No, it was the individuals who had purpose and meaning in their lives who were the most likely to live. There is no greater purpose than God’s purpose of glory. We experience joy when we are caught up in His purpose. Diligently pray that you would be aware of His purpose.

Psalm 16 is a reference to Christ’s suffering and resurrection; it reminds us of the joy found in God’s perspective. He knows that the last chapter is not the cross of crucifixion or suffering but the joy that would be His on the other side of Calvary. Jesus “for the joy set before him endured the cross” (Heb. 12:2). Gaining His perspective will provide you with a new sense of gratitude for His faithfulness in your life and a keener awareness of those blessings. Fervently pray for gratitude and godly perspective. As John Calvin said, “There is not one blade of grass, there is no color in this world that is not intended to make us rejoice.” Gratitude leads to joy. God made all of creation, including us, to experience joy. Although the evil one is committed to destroying joy and glory, it is, in fact, what we were designed for. Diligently pray that you would be aware of His perspective, that you would be filled with the gratitude and joy for which God made you.

The church on the day of my friend’s funeral was full of sorrow, as it should have been. But to the extent that we sought God’s presence, trusted His purpose, and strained to see His perspective, there was joy. Echoing in the shadows of sorrow was the possibility of joy. Joy doesn’t come easily. We must fight the lies of futility, isolation, and loneliness, and we must fight the fleeting perspective that accompanies difficult circumstances. We must have the courage and the ears to hear the laughter and rich joy on the other side. For on the other side, we will fully enjoy His presence, understand His perspective, and be amazed by His purpose. We will spend eternity in joy.

Originally posted in TableTalk magazine:  https://tabletalkmagazine.com/posts/2018/02/who-defines-your-joy/?utm_content=bufferb41ec&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

God is Sovereign: Part 13 of Attributes of God

God is sovereign.

Sovereign means a person who has supreme power and authority.  God has no limit to His power and His rule over the worlds and all that is in them.  

“God holds authority over us because He is our author.”  God is the Creator so He is, therefore, the owner of all things.

If you draw a picture, who does the picture belong to?  If you make a clay pot or vase, who owns it?

Consider these verses:

Job 42:2  “I know you can do all things; no plan of  yours can be thwarted”

Psalm 115:3  “Our God is in heaven; He does whatever pleases Him.”

Isaiah 46:10  “I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come.  I say:  My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.”

Daniel 4:35  “All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing.  He does as He pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth.  No one can hold back His hand or say to Him, “What have you done?”

Proverbs 21:30  “There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan that can succeed against the Lord”

Ecclesiastes 7:13  “Consider what God has done:  Who can straighten what he has made crooked?”

Proverbs 16:9  “In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps”

Lamentations 3:37  “Who can speak and have it happen if the Lord has not decreed it?”

What do you learn from all these verses?

There is absolutely NOTHING that happens that God has not allowed to have happen.  There is nothing that can be done to you that is outside of God’s plan for you.  This includes the sin of other people.

Think about the story of Joseph.  Joseph was thrown into a pit by his 11 older brothers.  They argued about killing him but ended up selling him as a slave.  Joseph was taken far from his home and made a slave.  His owner’s wife falsely accused Joseph of hurting her.  Joseph was put in jail and left there for years, forgotten about.  When Joseph gets out of jail, he becomes a high ranking official in Egypt.  Then his brothers come to him needing help.  Joseph is face to face with the brothers who sold him into slavery which led to jail time and a very difficult life for him. 

Joseph says in Genesis 50:20  “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.”

Even the sin of Joseph’s brothers was part of God’s plan.  God meant it for good.  Think about the immensity, power, just, right, loving, holy, wise God that is so sovereign, He has power and purpose over wrongs done to us and can use those wrongs for His glory and our good.  

Remember, not everything feels good.  God’s ultimate plan for His people is to be like Christ.  In his wisdom and love, He uses hard circumstances to make us like Christ - and when we are more like Christ, we have more joy!

Ecclesiastes 7:14  “When times are good, be happy: but when times are bad, consider, God has made the one as well as the other.  Therefore, a man cannot discover anything about his future.”

Isaiah 45:7  “I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the Lord, do all these things.”

Lamentations 3:38  “Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that both calamities and good things come?”

Can anyone mess up God’s plan for you?

Can another person do or say something that is outside of God’s control?

Can a teacher give an assignment that is not part of God’s plan for you?

Can a boss do anything to you that takes you outside of God's will for your life?

Can a parent’s “no” to something you want to do be against God’s plan for you?

God’s sovereignty would be scary if God were not also good, wise, merciful and kind. But, because God is holy, holy, holy, we can be excited that He controls everything!  His goodness and power will only allow what will bring Him honor and praise, and only what is good for us.  

Romans 8:28-29 says “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.  For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.”

For believers in Christ, for those who called to be His children, God uses all things - every situation whether easy or hard - for the good of making like more like His Son.  

Are you thankful for God’s sovereignty?

Why?

In what situation in your life do you need to trust in God’s complete sovereignty, knowing that a good, loving, wise God has allowed this situation to happen because He loves you and wants you to be more like Christ where true joy is found?

Getting to know God in relationship:

How will you talk to God differently and read His word differently because of this attribute?

Written by Wendy Wood, CHCC counselor

How Big Is Your God?

Article posted on DesiringGod.org

During car rides throughout the pines of East Texas, our daughter often observes her surroundings and asks big questions about God.

“Is God bigger than that tree, mama?”

“What about the road? Is he longer than that?”

Outside of the obvious difficulty in answering such massive questions, my heart smiles at her curiosity — mostly because it makes me quiver to consider the magnitude of a God who cannot be measured by any of our pitiful metrics.

It is a good and humbling thing to observe who God is in comparison to who we are. The heart-dropping ingloriousness of our sin in relation to God’s holiness is as a rotten, puny tree stump beside General Sherman, the giant sequoia holding the title as the largest individual living stem in the world. Your stomach drops at its vastness. You cannot wrap your mind around how something this gargantuan exists.

The insurmountable nature of God can be for us a source of peace and joy. We have this butterflies-in-the-stomach effect as we approach the Lord, unable to fully see his providence, yet catching it in glimpses through dimmed eyes.

None Like Him

God is the knower of thoughts, seeker of hearts, knowing the measure of our days, yet standing outside of time, ordaining every second before there was even one (Psalm 139). We may say God is “omnipotent,” but applying the label doesn’t help our minds get around him, even as children of God. We can’t size him up. Our mental arms can’t wrap around this cosmos-creating, secret-having God (Deuteronomy 29:29).

Consistently throughout Scripture, we have the question arising, Who is like the Lord? After God parted the Red Sea for Israel, Moses erupts into praise and leads the people with the words, “Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?” (Exodus 15:11).

After prophesying exile, Isaiah’s pronouncements shift upward in hope as he proclaims comfort for God’s people: “It is he who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them like a tent to dwell in” (Isaiah 40:22). The Old Testament continues with accounts of God’s otherness from his creation.

There is no one like him.

The New Testament deepens our understanding of his distinctness. When the crowds pressed in on Jesus during his preaching and left not even a spot at the door, four men lowered their paralytic friend down through the roof, and Jesus’s initial response to their faith was to forgive the disabled man’s sins. We get a glimpse into the evil hearts of the scribes as they question Jesus’s authority wondering, “Who can forgive sins but God alone?” (Mark 2:7).

It baffles the senses of the natural man to encounter the otherness of God made manifest through Jesus Christ.

Reaching into the Unfathomable

If you browse pictures of General Sherman, you will see many pictures of people standing at its base, appearing as grasshoppers in comparison.

All the trees in our neighborhood are mountable, which is good news for our (soon-to-be) three boys. There’s something about bear-hugging the base of a tree and attempting to climb it that allures our sons, our oldest especially. He is scratching at the bark to mount it. I think fear might fill him, though, if we were to drive to upstate California and show him General Sherman.

Yet here we are, full access to God through his word and power (Ephesians 1:17–19). This insurmountable, unfathomable, incalculable God reveals himself to children, calling forth praise even from infants (Matthew 21:15–16). We can “know the Lord” (Hosea 6:3), not because our minds have ascended the infinite, but because God in his infinitude accommodates our lowliness. We have Christ’s righteousness, grace upon grace, and the fulfillment of countless promises, not because of our works, but all because of our big God’s lavish grace. What have we not to be joyful for?

God’s grace cannot be weighed (1 Peter 1:10–12). His power cannot be measured (Ephesians 1:19). And it is given to us — sinners against the insurmountable God — by grace.

We Have God

No one is like him. No, not one. We can shudder at the magnitude of that reality and glorify him through overflowing thanksgiving and joy at such an immeasurable gift. Yet in our shuddering, we embrace him as our dearest Friend, closest Confidant, and Bridegroom. It is the greatest, kindest, and richest thing we could ever experience — because we were made for it.

Weak little grass shoots tossed by the wind next to the largest single Stem there is. We have God. That is a reality that we base our entire lives upon.

Trusting God with Our Children’s Pain

Article by Sarah Walton

I felt a wave of lightheadedness wash over me as I held my three-year-old’s hand. His screams pierced my heart as he fought the nurse’s attempts to insert a PICC line for the upcoming IV treatments. I don’t know if I can do this again, I thought, as the realization hit me that I would have to go through this process three more times this week with my other children.

I never wanted this for my children. In fact, I feared this for my children. All I wanted was to provide for them a normal childhood and to protect them from the hard realities of living in this fallen world as long as I could. I have wrestled with how to process my desire to protect my children from the things that God has chosen to allow. What does God’s love mean for my children when it looks different than perfect health — or even normal health?

The Refiner’s Gracious Fire

What if the very things we fear for our children — and try to meticulously control — turn out to be the avenues that God will use to open their eyes to him? What if God uses the hardest of days (that we tried to avoid) to grow their character and set them on a different, yet eternally rewarding path than we would have chosen for them?

If you are walking a hard road with your child, or are gripped with fear over something that might threaten their comfort and happiness, I’d like to encourage you with some ways that I have seen God use suffering in the lives of my children and our family. He has worked in us in ways that I wouldn’t change even if I could. My children have been touched by the Refiner’s fire and are learning precious lessons in the midst of it.

1. They are learning to endure.

We don’t have to live long to realize that life is hard, and if our children are to follow Christ, it won’t be comfortable and pain-free. But many of us live in a culture where children are catered to, cushioned, and overprotected, often producing entitled, overly anxious, self-absorbed, and fearful kids.

“What if the very things we fear for our children turn out to be avenues that God uses to open their eyes to him?”

Should we do our best to protect our kids from obvious dangers? Yes, of course. But we also need to be careful that we aren’t putting ourselves in the place of God, trying to control everything around them, while thinking that we’re doing them a service by preventing hardship and discomfort from entering their lives. We may be trying to protect them from the very things that will equip them to follow hard after Christ.

Although I would never have chosen for my children to be born into sickness and struggle at such a young age, I have seen how God has used this suffering to teach them to seek him, do hard things, learn to endure, and grow in character along the way (Romans 5:3–4).

2. They are learning to look for God’s faithfulness.

We live in a Christian culture that is soaked in prosperity-gospel teaching and thinking. Kindly, the Lord has allowed circumstances that have challenged that view and opened my children’s young eyes to see his faithfulness in lasting ways. They have had a front-row seat to watch God provide financially for our family in seasons of desperate need. They have experienced the sweet provision of God when gifts were dropped off anonymously on our front step, and when meals have been consistently delivered from our church family.

While they have cried out in their frustration toward the pain, they have learned that Jesus sees their tears and answers their prayers. They have also learned to be grateful for the small things, and to appreciate blessings they would never have appreciated had they not experienced much loss.

Of course, my children still throw tantrums, wish to be normal, and act like typical kids, but as they’ve experienced God’s faithfulness in tangible ways, his presence and provision in the trials have gradually become sweeter.

3. They are learning that sin is more dangerous than pain.

The truth is, pain has a way of tearing down our pretenses and our ability to mask our sin. For me, when my own chronic pain flares, or I feel helpless to help my kids, I’m much quicker to snap at them, gripe about all that I have to do, and blame everyone else for my responses. The pain doesn’t cause my sin; it reveals my sin. The same is true for our kids.

“Through trials, God has helped our family see that suffering is not our main problem — sin is.”TweetShare on Facebook

As our family has endured years of ongoing trials, God has helped us see that suffering is not our main problem — sin is. This is not a pretty process, but it’s been an unexpected blessing as they experience the Refiner’s fire at such a young age. Rather than living their childhood free from pain and ignorant of how deeply sin runs within them, God has used these unexpected trials to strip away the illusive veneer of triviality, revealing their need for a Savior.

What a blessing it is as a Christian parent to see your children begin to grasp that Jesus is the greatest gift, and that the pain they experience now is only temporary when they have the hope of eternity. Though I don’t know for certain the state of each of my children’s hearts, I’m thankful that God is providing many opportunities to sow seeds of the gospel in the fertile soil of their souls.

I Will Not Fear

If you are currently watching your child face hardship of some kind, remember that God loves our children more than we ever could, and he is trustworthy. There is so much to fear in this world, but when we come to fear and trust God more than we fear pain or trust our ability to control life, we will find freedom and peace in our parenting.

As the psalmist said in Psalm 56:3–4, “When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can flesh do to me [or my children]?” Let’s be parents who not only pray for the protection of our children, but first and foremost pray that their hearts would turn to Christ, no matter the cost.

Sarah Walton and her husband live in Chicago with their four young children. Sarah blogs at setapart.net and is co-author of the book Hope When It Hurts.

Link to original article:  https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/trusting-god-with-our-childrens-pain