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.
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.
This is so true. When I started my journey I thought I could use all the talents God gave me and that would be my “works”. How wrong. Yes I can use the gifts but God also uses me when I believe I don’t have the strength, the wisdom or the time. The more I rely on Him the more I see Him at work. And others do too!
Blessings,
Janis
I wrote my first comment without seeing that I needed to leave an example. I wrote about it on my blog. http://www.janiscox.com/sunday-stillness-gods-grace-is-enough/
Basically God carried me through a week of laryngitis while running a VBS. All glory was to Him.
Blessings,
Janis
I think I would crash the cyber system if I listed all the ways this has been demonstrated in my life, but glory be I finally got the message (I hope)! Looks like a great read…thank you Margaret! Hugs!
Oh how true this is ! Thank you for telling it like it is!! If only I had known this earlier, instead of striving and working, and trying SO hard to be all the things I thought He wanted me to be, instead of resting in His sufficiency and power. He has been very patient with me, and then this year really began to strip away all my defences through a series of life events, including a house flood and the loss of many material items, 2 car accidents which I am still recovering from, major bone loss issues, and now complications with other major (unexpected) health issues. He shouts to me through all these events I Am More Then Enough for you. believe it, walk in it, trust Me !!!
Thank you for encouraging me through this post.
Currently he is showing me strength as I get sleep deprived with my month old baby boy. Sleep has always been what I need the most and I just keep trusting God that we’ll make it through.
I’ve been thinking of this concept in prayer meetings. I try to begin (or pray before the meeting) that God would help us pray, would inspire us to pray. We know times when prayer is richly answered, we also know all too well times it is sterile routine. May God give us fresh, rich times and preserve us from lifeless routine. Not that routine is always bad, there can be vital routines.
I’ve had to rely on Him so many times…and I’ve fallen even more times because of my failure to rely on Him. I remember when I had a difficult decision to make regarding work. My then-new husband was out of the country for work and I was feeling very confused and alone with no one to help me process, but I had to make a decision. I felt Him during worship, speaking to me through a song. I didn’t feel like He gave me an answer, just the strength to decide. That song still speaks to me.
Only out of brokenness can we release the power of God and experience God’s riches in Christ Jesus. I find that God is dealing with me to break my natural strengths in order that the outer man (our soul life) can be crucified and His inner life can grow. Gal. 2:20 says it best, “I am crucified with Christ but nevertheless I live. And the life I live is by the faith of Jesus Christ.”
Wonderful words that by the author giving a complete picture of being dependent on God.
Yes, and amen. Thank you!
I was one of those church kids that actually thought about what I was being told and questioned, (if I had questions that contradicted) So, when someone would say…
“what’s the worst that could happen as a Christian? Die? Then you get to go to heaven.” I would think, “no, that’s not the worst, the worst is getting to live and be tortured, wanting to die, but unable” I know it sounds grim, and really, I’m not that morbid but they asked, and I thought about it.
Just like “God will never give us more than we can handle” And my mind goes to the worst case scenario of the third world country missionary martyrs who, in my judgment, were indeed given more than they themselves could handle.
Not by MY power or might
NO
But by the Power of the Living God living in me, through me.
When I am humbled, He can be exalted in my life.
When I miscarried twice and then went fearfully through another pregnancy, it was more than I could handle. I started reading Psalms every day. God showed me how to pour my heart out to him.
I am trying to live on God’s faith now and this post was published at just the right time for me. Thank you.
There have been so many times where God showed up when I finally released the burden. I like to have “complete control” of a crisis but have been learning (painfully) that this just slows down the resolution. Moving to a new state (from MA to FL) where I only know a few co-workers has been both a joy and uncomfortable. I miss my comfort zone with my Sistas. Can I trust the new Sistas in my new church? My husband is coming alive here, both physically and spiritually which is an answer to many prayers. I have decided to go to the Women of Faith event in Orlando next weekend ALONE. I tried to find a buddy but everyone was busy. The desire to be inspired and challenged was stronger than my fear of “not belonging” to a group. Pray for me!
This is such a refreshing article. Just today I had a conversation with my “spiritual mother” and said to her “why am I still wandering in this particular wilderness? Have I not learned dependence yet?” Part of my struggle comes from the mindset that “God won’t give you more than you can handle”. This has been ingrained in me for many years, but I’ve always felt that He has given me more than I can handle at many different levels, and the lesson is always the same: surrender to & dependence on Him. As a single Mom to two wonderful daughters for the last 14 years, it has been a long tough battle. Some days I have felt like I could not take another step. Now I understand that those very times are designed for me to NOT take that step, but to fall into the loving arms of Abba Father! Thank you.
I could certainly use some Astonishing just about now. And I totally agree with Mike Erre in regards to God giving you more than you can handle. That’s VERY TRUE! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve screamed “Just kill me now already!!” to Him. =:-O
I will definitely pray for you Trish. I have felt like an outsider and not belonging for years. I know what it means. I have often prayed for a “break-through” and not a “breakdown.”
I am in that exact situation right now. We just got to see baby’s heartbeat yesterday. My soul leaps and yet I find it hard to be excited. It is surreal to serve a God who has the power to prevent the pain but doesn’t always choose to. This has been a big test to my faith. He has truly given me more than I can handle. But He is bigger than all of it and I know He is working this into His plan. Thank you for posting your experience. It, along with this post, is such a perfectly timed encouragement to me.
Finally a book that says God wants to use us if we aren’t powerful and have limited resources.
I really needed God’s strength to heal from an abusive childhood. Praise God for my husband, for though he didn’t really understand what I was going through, he did pray for me and stood by me for over 20 years of healing! It’s so GREAT to be free in Christ!!
There have been many times in my life that God has taken my weakness and in His Strength not only brought me peace but immeasurable joy. When I went through a horrible divorce, my daughter moved in with her father, an alcoholic and drug addicted, depressed man. She was only 14 and very vulnerable. In my anguish and despair, I cried out to Him and He pulled me together in prayer and faith, keeping me close to Him. My trust and hope became my life! After 2 years, my daughter came home, broken and desperate for stability and security. How my soul rejoiced! Now my daughter is going through almost the same type of breakup with my two year old granddaughter caught in the sadness. I would love to read this book with her and continue to pray that she seek His Strength in every moment. He is our Rock and our Refuge!
As a foster parent with no previous parenting experience, I am often in situations where I’m trying to parent a child who needs a lot more from me than what I feel I have to give. I struggle daily to figure out how to step into the shoes of a little one carrying experiences of immense trauma and loss. Consistency in schedule and routine can be comforting to anyone, but especially to a child who has had no control over what is happening in their life. One of our routines is to pray and read a children’s bible at night. It wasn’t until one of the children, who had to face some deep painful realities in his own life, cried out “HOLD ME” during a prayer that I realized that’s exactly what I needed Jesus to do, too. In my weakness, I needed Him to hold my hand, hold my body, hold my mind and my spirit as I navigated these painful, confusing, overwhelming times holding the hand of the “least of these” and crying out “hold us!” He does, and we journey together.
for over a year now i have been in my own personal joseph story. i am under more pressure than i can handle and every day is a struggle but i still trust god. he is refining me with fire to burn out all the stuff he can’t use. he is trusting me to continue to trust him amidst the betrayals and being cast aside in a pit and left for dead by my husband and youngest son. but, i have seen that he is my last and only hope and i do cry out to him for protection, help, and mercy. he has become the almighty all sufficient one and i have become as nothing. it is in this weakened and forlorn state that he will use me to confound the non-believing world.and i have learned a lot about how to relate to the sick, weak, and hurting, abandoned souls he has come to save.
thanks for sharing this mary as i can so easily relate to your story. it is happening to me similarly to what happened to you.i am glad your daughter came home as i still have hope my son will when he figures things out and has had enough. please pray for us.
Looks like a great read! God bless! 🙂
About this time last year I’d reached an “End of my rope” scenario when my husband and I were trying to get pregnant. I fought with God, argued with God and even explained to him that other folks could get pregnant except my husband and I.
We really wanted a baby and I was fed up. So, one morning on the way to work I out loud said to God, “WHY oh WHY aren’t you allowing us to get pregnant. What more do I have to do? I said, “I”m gonna shut up now and hopefully you’ll speak.”
Here’s what God had to say to me that morning: ” I gave Sarah a baby when she was 90. What’s your problem? Am I still not the same God? I Am who I am!” Several months passed and on April 1, 2014 we got our positive pregnancy test!
As I type this I am 44 days away from giving birth to our sweet little boy Bennett Kevin Roark. It was at my end of the rope point where I had to decide if I was going to trust God or just rely on my own pitiful human frailty.
Praising God from Whom ALL Blessings FLow,
Alicia ROark
Recently after the birth of my second child I had an injury to my pelvis ( because of the birth) and literally could not walk. It wAs terrifying. Didn’t know how long it would last. I had to rely on others for everything and ask for help. It was so humbling. I am usually so independent and self reliant. Admitting my weakness was terrifying. But the moment I did, the peace that came with that was like nothing I have ever felt. (With me alwYs otherwise trying to prove something with my strength).
I have been recovering slowly. I can walk and function. But God constantly reminds me of so many lessons in this recovery.
My husband had a mental breakdown a few years ago. Mental illness is so scary to people, I felt alone. I was never so close to God during that time. As a result, I remember it as a spiritual time instead of a tragic time. We have been married for 16 years now and our love is stronger than ever as a result of God’s intervention.
I have been seeing this on my Yahoo account for some time and would direct it to trash. The other day I saw “The end my rope” advertised, say no more this is exactly where I am. In 2006 my life turned into a horrific health nitemare and continues to this day. I spend 12 hours of my day on TPN, I take shots for blood clots that developed and have a eclipse filter? My lungs are not as strong as they were, I have fibromyalgia, osteoarthritis, RA, and tendonitis over my whole body, my pain is excruciating. I have a G-tube for meds. And draining purposes. I only have 4ft. Of small bowel which means I have very little absorption. I also have developed Barrets Esaphagus. I was told the other day I have Co-morbidities, in my medical chart there is Critical written everywhere. With saying all this you must no my relationship with God has become an ever wondering of when I will reach the end of my rope! When will he say ok enough for you so let’s start repairing your body somewhat so at 55 yrs. of age you can really start enjoying your Grandchildren the way you always dreamed it would be. This I pray is my ultimate test from God. As I understand it I will have great blessings after all of this. My faith is getting stronger but really have no-one to talk to as I have no home church. God bless everyone for your post.
A time in my life that I needed to rely on God’s strength? That would be now, especially. I’ve been ill for about 6 years. The MD’s aren’t sure of the cause. My health seems to be more of a constant struggle now, after a trip to the ER in July. One issue after another pops up but no answers. It is the Lord that sustains me in the midst of these “growing” pains. We have four little ones at home that we homeschool and attempt to “raise up in the way they should go.” Fortunately, they all have placed their faith in Christ~my heart’s greatest desire. I find that each day, I have to rely more fully on Him and I am finding Him faithful.
I am clinging to the promises in the Word that my God has so lovingly and faithfully given. Many situations that I am striving to hold JOY in my heart. “God is my refuge and strength, an ever present help in times of trouble.” The Word of the Lord is a lifeline!
“God is all about giving us more than we can handle, so that we’ll actually have to trust him. “-This is something I should have learned years ago, but the funny thing is- when He has brought me through one of “those times” and the pressure is off, I get comfortable and complacent, and cocky, and end up needing another reminder of WHO is in charge, and WHO to look to for guidance and direction EVERYDAY. Thankfully, Life is full of those opportunities, and although I do not believe God causes our difficulties, He allows them, and uses them (if we are paying attention) to draw us closer to Him again. I still do not understand WHY I take sooo long to figure it out and surrender my situation and my striving to Him each time. Thank God HE is patient with us- it is truly ASTONISHING to be loved by a God who cares for us this much!
Blessings~
Seven years ago I was diagnosed with prostate cancer. I remember the overwhelming sense of peace that filled my heart as well as my wife’s at that time. We knew without a shadow of doubt that God was in complete control. Two years later I was was diagnosed with kidney cancer. Again, that overwhelming sense of God’s presence and peace sustained us. I had two very successful surgeries–Praise the Lord! Reading about Mike Erre’s book is truly astonishing. I am moving toward and resting in our God Who delights in taking us into “impossible” situations. I am pondering two ministry opportunities that fit the “impossible” category, but again, God is in control–even if we are not! PTL! 🙂
Trusting God for my mentally ill daughter who I have not seen in 7 years! His strength, peace and comfort are the only ways I can get through each day!
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