He and Me
You’ve heard the saying, “He’ll never put anything on you that you can’t handle.” That statement has never settled cozily into my spirit. Some days are hard to handle. For instance, after a long day at work, I come home to a house full of boys who haven’t cleaned up after themselves. An 11-year-old boy making a PB&J is really messy, and so is everything he touches. My hopes of joyfully resting after a long day turns into me cleaning up much of the house. Some days, I can’t seem to handle it! On the other hand, at least their school work is always finished, so this momma just has to choose her battles.
Just as days are hard to handle, whole seasons can be hard to handle too. I’ve been through seasons of sadness. We’ve moved away from three different churches in three different states. Each transition meant leaving the relationships we loved so much to temporarily live with family in a home that wasn’t ours, waiting until the next season to began. Talk about hard to handle. It’s difficult raising a family in someone else’s home when you all share a bathroom! I’ve also been through seasons of stretching. Shortly after we stepped into full time ministry, my husband started having seizures. Those seizures lasted 11 years before we found a doctor who was determined to figure it all out. In 2016 he underwent two brain surgeries. It was hard to handle that season wondering if healing was possible, but with God, all things are possible. God stretched my faith in that season, and as many of you know, my husband is now 4 years seizure free! That whole story, or testimony if you will, is a message all in itself. So, I want to re-word that original statement that I first shared: “He’ll never put anything on you that you and He can’t handle.” You see, He may allow us to go through those hard-to-handle things, so we realize our need for Him.
In the book of 1 Samuel, we meet a shepherd boy named David. He was minding his own business, and his sheep too, when his dad, Jessie, invited him to meet the prophet Samuel. Of course, this invitation was only reluctantly extended to David after his 7 older brothers failed to meet God’s confirmation to be anointed king. God was not searching for the outer appearance like man does – He was looking for the heart. When David walks in with his pure heart, the horn of oil is brought out, and he is anointed king of Israel. Although it was likely a beautiful moment of awe for his dad, and a hilarious look of shock from his brothers, David returned to the field to tend to his sheep. From that moment until he actual sits on the throne, David walks through many trying seasons. From shepherding sheep, to playing the harp, to dodging spears, he had to walk through a field of wilderness before God allowed him to sit on a throne.
You see, we are all called according to our purpose and our purpose requires preparation. Guess what, preparation is sometimes hard to handle! Yet, it’s our high’s and low’s in life that prepare us for tomorrow.
For every success David had in Saul’s eye, and for every time he had to flee, I bet David didn’t necessarily feel like he was walking out an anointing to be king. He was just doing the next right thing. Unknowingly to him, that next right thing was preparation in God’s plan. For every right thing David did, it was a “He and me” mindset, as he always found his strength in the Lord.
Right now, maybe your next right step is to stand firm in your “right now,” no matter how big or small. It makes me think of Noah from the Notebook, when he was standing firm in a “right now” moment he pleaded with Allie, “So, it’s not going to be easy. It’s going to be really hard. We’re going to have to work at this every day, but I want to do that because I want you…”
Hard-to-handle times, whether days or seasons, are an inevitable part of life. They are going to come no matter what. It’s our posture in those times that displays our willingness to trust the Lord. Will we fall and not get up? Or will we stand like David and say, “The battle is the Lord’s!”
There’s nothing the you and He can’t handle.