Lisa and I are celebrating our twenty-eighth anniversary today. Last night we were talking about this and marveling at how so much time had passed since our wedding day.
We contemplated if it “felt” like twenty-eight years and I shared how when I think back on all that had happened, I can definitely mark the passage of a fair amount of time. Of course one of the “big” things that happened in our life was the birth of Timothy and all the struggle that surrounded his health problems. Lisa and I have often thought, “If we had known what we were going to face we would have thought that we would never make it through.” This seems to be a prevalent thought when it comes to many of life’s great challenges even if they are spawned by our own hand. Consider temptation for example. Sometimes we make a move in the direction of a sin that seems relatively harmless and before we know it things have snow-balled and we are being consumed by the very thing that looked so pleasing to us. The point is that when these mountains appear before us, whether they be health problems, spiritual problems, emotional problems, family problems, or other circumstances, we are quick to conclude that we have insufficient resources to deal with the issue. This conclusion often occurs because we have excluded God’s working in our lives to see us through. Lisa and I have lived enough years to know that when a believer turns to God in the midst of a great struggle, He will meet us in our most difficult times. Those struggles may go on for years and perhaps a lifetime, but God is faithful and has not and will not abandon us. Today I encourage you to read the words of Pastor Greg Laurie (below) and be encouraged that God will give to us what we need, when we need it.
For Him,
Rob
June 4, 2016
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What We Need, When We Need It
The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure. –
(1 Cor 10:13)
Maybe you have known someone who was going through a hardship, and you thought,
I could never handle that. Right now you couldn’t. But if God allowed you to face something like that, then He would give you the strength you need when you need it. Or maybe you’ve thought, I could never resist that temptation. But if the Lord allows you to be tempted, then He will not give you more than you can handle. As 1 Corinthians 10:13 tells us, “The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.” The apostle Paul had his thorn in the flesh. We don’t know what it was, but it was some kind of physical infirmity that he had after he was caught up and saw the glories of heaven (see2 Corinthians 12:7
). Some believe it was something that happened as a result of one of his beatings or stonings or whippings. Others believe it may have been a physical disability. Whatever it was, he asked the Lord to take it away three times, and God effectively said no. And each time God told him, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness” (verse 9). When we are facing adversity in our lives and ask God to take it away, sometimes He will say yes. But there are also times when He will say, “No, but I am here with you, and I am going to walk with you through it.” God always will give us what we need, when we need it. So don’t worry about what may happen later.
Copyright © 2016 by Harvest Ministries. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.