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God will never give us more than we can carry.
Or at least that’s what we’re told. But is this true? Unfortunately it’s actually a more complicated answer than you might guess. The Bible never uses this exact phrase (the closest is 1 Corinthians 10:13). Which means God never explicitly promises this protection. Yet I believe it is true. I believe that it’s in line with God’s character to never give us more than we can carry.
Sometimes, though, we pick up extra baggage along the way.
It wasn’t God’s intention for us to have this new problem (whatever it may be). We did it all on our own. Yet we start blaming God for what we’re experiencing. As if he’s somehow responsible for us ignoring his advice!
Sin leads to things God never intended for us to handle. The more we move away from how we were designed, they more things break down. That’s a fundamental principle of how the world works. If you build a house and forget to lay the foundation first, you’re going to have problems. If I’m trying to write out this post and I just randomly type letters, you won’t be able to read it (some of you may suspect I do this already).
God may never give us more than we can handle, but we have a knack of making things difficult on ourselves.
Why do we do it then? Why do we fall into the traps of addictions or greed when we know it will only harm us? I have to wonder if this is partly a pride issue. We’ve become so full of ourselves, that we think we must be the solution to everything. So we just keep piling on problem after problem, bad choice after bad choice with the foolish belief that we can “handle it.”
In his book, Wide Awake, Erwin McManus says, “I love this about Daniel and Esther – they did what they could and let God fill in the blanks where they didn’t know how it could possibly work out.” (Wide Awake, p. 73)
We worry so much about having everything perfectly mapped out before we move and act. But maybe that’s not always the right way to do it. Maybe what we need to do most is to act, and trust God will be in the gaps. Maybe the reason we have so little faith in miracles, is that we leave so little room for them.
I believe that God never gives me more than I can handle. But I also believe that 9 times out of 10 I’m an idiot. I allow my pride to control my behaviors, and I end up making my burden too heavy.
Here is my challenge to you (and myself). Something will come up this week. I don’t know what it will be. But it will be more than you know how to handle. Pray about it. And then whatever God tells you to do – act on it. Don’t worry if you don’t know how it will shake out. Don’t worry if you aren’t sure what the “plan” looks like. Trust that God’s foolishness is better than your wisdom, and God’s weakness is better than your strength. I think we’ll all be amazed at what happens when we let God be God.
‘Anti-Christ’ gets ‘anti-prize’ at Cannes
Posted by e. barrett | Posted on 01-06-2009
Category : God, failure, faith, hope, living a life of faith
Tags: Anti-Christ movie, Cannes film, Christian, Christianity, failure, faith, God, hope, living a life of faith, movies, Original sin, religion, social commentary
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The Cannes Film Fest has come and gone. Usually Cannes produces some movie that is declared a “must see” or generates some buzz for a few films. But this year there didn’t seem to be a lot of enthusiasm. Maybe it was the economy. Maybe it was the movies. I don’t know.
There was, however, the usual controversy. Cannes tends to pride itself on pushing the envelope (you aren’t going to see X-men 14 or Star Trek 12). Because it tries to push artistic or non-main stream movies, you often see the “boundaries” being pushed. This year it was the movie Anti-Christ.
I admit, I don’t know anything about this movie other than what I read in a few news stories. I have no idea if this movie is interesting. (I doubt it.) Or if it’s well conceived. (Probably not.) Roger Ebert describes Anti-Christ as, ” Its images are a fork in the eye. Its cruelty is unrelenting. Its despair is profound.” I’m going to go out on a limb and say it’s probably not the best movie ever made. But, for argument’s sake, lets treat Anti-Christ as if it’s the greatest piece of art man has created. In reality it doesn’t matter if this movie is good or bad, it still raises one question: why?
Why do we feel compelled to make ‘art’ that is so violent and base?
Why do we feel compelled to make ‘art’ that destroys instead of build up?
Why do we feel compelled to make ‘art’ that shocks us?
There must be something about human nature that drives us to offend. We must get some satisfaction out of shocking people. How else do you explain ’shock jocks’ on the radio? It has to be that we delight in hurting others. Take the American Idolist William Hung (you know, the guy who sang She Bangs). The only reason Hung was shown on American Idol was so that we, as an audience, could rip him apart and laugh at his expense. No one could possibly believe he was talented enough to be on the show. He was there as a spectacle. As a friend used to say, “I’m not laughing with you, I’m laughing at you.”
I often hear the argument that God doesn’t exist. That evil isn’t real. That given enough time, man will “improve.” That’s the core philosophy of Star Trek after all. It’s also the hope held out in most Hollywood movies. But if that’s the case, if man improves over time, how do you explain a movie like Anti-Christ? Surely this film doesn’t show that man has evolved into an enlightened species? That somehow we are becoming better with time.
Why, then, do we do it?
In the book Faith & Doubt, John Ortberg addressed this issue by writing, “One day I realized there was no God, no one behind reality, no life after death. I realized existence is a meaningless accident, begun by chance and destined for oblivion, and it changed my life. I used to be addicted to alcohol but now the ‘law of natural selection’ has set me free. I used to be greedy, but now the story of the Big Bang has made me generous. I used to be afraid, but now random chance has made me brave.”
Ortberg said this with tongue in cheek. But he raises a point. We try to rip apart the existence of God, but in the very act of setting ourselves “free” from God, it seems we bring out the worst in ourselves. Why? How can it be that we always seem to find a way to fall back into the pit if we are becoming more enlightened?
Movies like Anti-Christ are supposed to represent social criticism. It’s supposed to make us think about society and life. But what does it say about the message if it needs such violence and offense to drive home the “point”? What does it say about the messenger?
When I try to answer the “why” question, the only answer I have is that we are a fundamentally broken people. That if we are left to their own devices we end up with a world of shock jocks, gratuitous violence, and empty philosophies. That we are not getting better over time.
What we end up with is a world that wants to offend one another, for no reason other than that we can. I think the evidence of that is overwhelming. You don’t need me to tell you this, of course. Just pick up a newspaper and read the headlines. Or think about what you do when you get angry. It’s to “get back” at someone isn’t it? It’s part of human nature to fall backwards, not move forwards. None of us are immune to that.
Only God changes the equation. Only God breaks us out of the cycle. Only God, can stop us. Because we sure can’t stop ourselves.