Let me introduce you to my friend, Mike. Mike Erre is the Lead Pastor of EvFree Fullerton, located in Fullerton, California. Mike is from Ohio and moved to Southern California to earn his MA in Philosophy of Religion and Ethics through Talbot School of Theology. He has authored five books: The Jesus of Suburbia, Why Guys Need God, Death By Church, Why the Bible Matters and Astonished. Mike has served as an adjunct professor at Biola University and has spoken at universities, retreats, Catalyst, Leadership Network, on radio and television. Mike is the husband of Justina, the dad to Nathan, Hannah and Seth.
This fall, I’ve invited a few friends to share what God is teaching them. I hope their words are an encouragement to you as you continue to awaken to the joy and delight that comes with being a child of God.
by Mike Erre
There is a cliché I’ve heard in Christian circles that needs to be done away with.
“God will never give you more than you can handle.”
It’s a phrase most of us say to each other when confronted with painful trials or suffering. I know what we mean when we say it; Paul writes in 1 Corinthians that, “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.” (1 Corinthians 10:13)
While this is most certainly true, it is not quite the same as saying that God will never give us more than we can handle. In fact, I think scripture demonstrates just the opposite.
God is all about giving us more than we can handle, so that we’ll actually have to trust him.
God is actively, passionately and relentlessly about the business of giving us more than we can handle, so that our power, wisdom, and strength will be brought to its end. Think of Gideon, or Paul, or Moses.
This is why Paul’s teaching on weakness is so profound for the journey of faith. We think faith is supposed to protect us from being brought to a place of such desperation.
Paul suggests that faith is that point of desperation.
But so much of American life and Christianity is designed precisely so that we never reach this point. We don’t want to be weak. We want to be heroic, powerful, and important. We are conditioned (even in church!) to overcome obstacles, not embrace our limitations.
God’s desire is to work through human vulnerability rather than overcome it.
We’ll never see his power if we refuse to have ours limited.
God’s way is not to take us out of trials, but to comfort us with his presence in the midst of them and to exchange our “strength” for his in the face of them. This is how God works out his purposes for the world – he puts treasure “in jars of clay to show that this all- surpassing power is from God and not from us.” By our union with Christ in and through our weakness, we display God’s glory.
It is to his greatness that he uses people like us.
It is a testimony to his glory that he can take anything or anyone to be used for his purpose.
He shows his wisdom by using foolishness.
God reveals his strength by using weakness.
God shows his true greatness by using the lowly and despised things of the world to bring out his purposes in human history.
In God’s hands, our brokenness can be made beautiful.
The American dream is to live in our strength; God’s dream is that we live in our weakness. The one way of living is completely antithetical to the other.
But if we really desire to see God move in mighty ways, to fully embrace the life that Jesus has for us, then we must be brought to the end of our power and strength.
As Dallas Willard has said, the Christian life is what you do when you realize that you can do nothing.
This week, were giving away 3 copies of Astonished by Mike Erre.
This week, were giving away 3 copies of In Astonished, Pastor Mike Erre calls Christians away from simplistic formulas to honest and rugged faith in the mysterious and unpredictable God.
The three winners will be selected and announced on Friday.
