Hello and welcome to another episode  of, "The Bible Doesn't Say That" where our contestants will have to determine if a famous phrase is in the Bible or not. And here's our host, Jack Potts. 

It's me Jack Potts and welcome to another episode of, "The Bible Doesn't Say That." Well, you welcome to the stage, Stephen and Savannah. Stephen, "It says here that you are a microbiologist who foster's abandoned dogs and likes long walks on the beach, ladies.  Tell us a little bit more about your dogs.  

Yeah, I've got two pomeranians.   Uh huh.  Um, and both of them can fit in a dog stroller.  

A stroller?  

Yeah.

So you walk, let me get this straight, you walk your dogs in the stroller?  Okay. All right. And Savannah,  awesome, it says here that you're in the oil industry, in construction, and you like to drive big trucks.  Um, how big are your trucks? 

They're real big.  Eight inch lift,  37 inch mud tires. 

You scare me and let's get ready to play.  And up first we've got Stephen.  Stephen, does the Bible say God helps those who help themselves?"

Yes.

Oh, it looks like Stephen will not be tithing on that $5 because the Bible actually doesn't say that.  Here in Romans 5:6, it does say, "While we were still helpless, at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly." It's the helpless. Oooo, bro, read your Bible. Okay, next up. We've got Savannah, Savannah. We started off a little weak, but we're hoping that you can pull us back. Here goes nothing.  Savannah. are you ready?

Yes. 

Does the Bible say "Neither a borrower nor a lender be?"

I think I know this. Yes.

Oh no, that's actually Shakespeare in Hamlet. It looks like you're going to need to go back and read some of that KJV Bible. Quick recap for today's episode. Both contestants actually got them wrong, Rodney what did they win?

Well, Jack, they want absolutely nothing. 

And that's all she wrote for today's episode. Make sure you stay tuned for next week's episode of, "The Bible Doesn't Say That."

You know, that's amazing, because I think Eli missed his calling. Just to be honest, Hey, welcome to Burnt Hickory this morning if you're with us online. Thanks for being here today. If you're in the house today in any of our services, man, we're so honored that you would just give us your time today and give us this moment today and also just welcome to a new series called, "The Bible Doesn't Say That."  

We've spent all summer long in the book of Psalms, just looking at just some powerful truths from 3000 years ago of how we can point our lives and where we can live and how we can live. And now we're launching into these ideas of, warnings of the Bible doesn't say some of the things that we believe that it says. And I know what you're thinking, because you're thinking the same thing I would, Matt, why would we look?  This is church, right? Aren't we supposed to look at the things that the Bible does say? 

Well, yes, we are. But I also think it's important to realize just some of the cultural things that we say, some of the colloquial phrases that we use, maybe even some of the fairy tales we read, or some of the sayings or old wives tales that our grandmothers gave us, that really the Bible doesn't say them. And here's here's what I know. There's so many of us that have fallen into a lot of these traps. And we've taken these sayings or we've taken these things that really are part of normal culture. And we've taken them to be the same thing as truths from God. And what we've done is, we've allowed those things to shape our theology. And we've designed our lives and, here's the scary part, around some false statements, and around some false things that are really just cultural truths. 

And here's what I find interesting about this whole thing. Satan is really good at this game. He's really, really, really good. In fact, if you think back all the way back to Jesus's encounter in the wilderness, Jesus even dealt with this idea where Satan will take a half truth or something that almost sounds like the Bible and he will twist it just enough so that we can plant our lives into something that we really have no business, planting our lives into. This is kind of what Jesus dealt with when, Satan was tempting in the wilderness. And, here's what we've done, one of the hard parts about a lot of these phrases, and we're going to look at a lot of them over the next couple weeks is, that some of them actually bring comfort to our lives. And they actually bring, like some moments in our lives that we really need in that moment, or we really need at that time. And when some well meaning person says them to us, we adopt them and they make us feel better, catch this, temporarily. 

And you know, some of these things that I'm talking about, you know, some of these things, and I'm not gonna to have time to hit them all. But let me give you a couple before we get into today. One of them we just mentioned right there and it's this idea that, you know what, God helps those who help themselves. You ever heard anybody say that before? You know, God will just help those who help themselves.  You know who usually says that?  Somebody that wants you to work for them. That's usually who brings that up. Here's another one that I like and some well meaning person will come to you or shade tree theologian, they'll go we know that faith can fix anything. Well not really.  It really can't.  Or here's one that just infuriates me and at funerals I mean, I don't know about you, but I get to go to a lot of funerals.  Someone I mean notoriously, all the time at a funeral someone will say these words, you know what God just needed another angel. You know it's true. You've seen the truck in the parking lot right with the angel wings with Joey, written below it. That's not in the Bible. The Bible doesn't say that. And I get it. It's like a comforting statement. Right? God just needed another angel, needed another rose in His garden. No, he doesn't say that when somebody dies. What about this one?  Just let your conscience be your guide. I know you're going to college, just let your conscience, no don't let your conscience be your guide. No, it never ends well.  Never, in fact most of the troubles we're still dealing with right now. Right? But we've said it, haven't we? Just follow your heart? Just follow it, all right?  How about this one? If it doesn't hurt anybody,  do it, you know? But these phrases, they're not the Bible. Or  here's one, you may have grown up in this tradition.  If you believe, you will receive.   You grew up there. You were there, right? If you'll just believe,  you'll receive.  No, that's not how it works. That's not in the Bible. I know. I just  destructed somebody's whole theology with those statements right there. I just tore it all up. But here's the thing. Here's the problem with these,  that we do, what happens is, is these things seep into our hearts, they seep into our lives, and they begin to skew our theology to the point to where those lies take over the truth that God wants to give us. 

And what happens is we begin to live our lives around those statements or those truths or those lies and when the walls fall in, those are the things we're standing on. So to open up the series this morning I just kind of, part of the introduction.  I heard a saying a long time ago. And you know, anytime a pastor says a long time ago, he didn't make it up. I didn't make this statement up. I really believe the statement is from Dr. Charles Stanley, man I'll probably give him credit. He's old and said a lot of really good things over the years. So I'll just go ahead and give it to him. But he said this,  "In life, most people are in one of three categories. Most people are either A, about to step into an incredibly difficult season of their life. B, are in a incredibly difficult season of their life right now, or C, they're just stepping out of a difficult situation." So what he's trying to make in this point is, is that life is not a bed of roses, either A, you're in a situation B, you're about to step into one or C, you're about to come out of one and I know there's a lot of you.  You're nodding your heads in this because you're like, you know what, Matt, if I had to kind of look back at my life, I feel like most of my life has been around those three statements either I'm neck deep in it, either I'm coming out of it, I'm pretty dirty or I know that I'm diving off the diving board into whatever is about to happen. 

And, I know how many of you would say this morning, Matt, that's my life. I mean, you kind of put my life whether it be through health or finances or situations, it kind of rolls into one of those three categories. Can I just be really transparent with you this morning that I think I could get that tattooed on me. I really believe that that's my life. I feel like I live a lot of my life in one of those three situations. I mean, I'll just bring you into my world a little bit. I'll put my cards on the table. My 16 year old brother was killed in a car accident when I was a sophomore in college. When, and I mean it just destroyed me I was in it. Melissa and I in between Blake and Dalton our two boys we lost a baby in between that I mean to a miscarriage in the downturn of 2008.  Had some kind of housing kind of investments out there and it was so bad my bank went out of business. You know, that's bad, when that happens, you get it.  My kids ain't going to college anymore. It's just,  that's just how it works right there. It just happened. Melissa's had two strokes, my wife and a heart procedure. I mean, health stuff like crazy. I had a little spot on my chest that turned into stage 3 melanoma cancer in my lymph nodes. Talk about a year's worth of cancer treatments. We've walked through Melissa's residual of stuff from her strokes, from her life and all of the stuff we're doing right now talk about seasons of life. I've had to pastor a church in  a pandemic, for goodness sake. I mean, the last year has just been not good. All right? Not good. Not good. I mean, do you realize that one year today is one year of me stepping into this role and boy, it's been a year. Let me just tell you, it has been great. Don't clap. It's been miserable.

I mean, think about it. One of the biggest racial tensions, since my lifetime for sure, probably most of our lifetimes, a national pandemic, where you're shamed for coming to church and shamed for not going to church.  Shamed for wearing a mask shamed for not wearing a mask.  Shamed for watching CNN, Fox or even ESPN because we shouldn't even be playing sports. I mean, you're shamed for everything right now. But that's the life that we're living in right now, isn't it? I mean, here's the thing. I know that my story is just like your story. It is. It's just got different chapters. But it's the same thing. It feels the same. I'm either in it, I'm coming out of it. Or I'm on the diving board diving into it right now in my life. And we're all in the spiraling together of life, whether it be just bad health reports, or bad finances or relationship woes, or my friends have left me or depression fill in the blank. And when that weight gets so heavy, that people begin to notice it, there's always alright there's always you're out there and you know who you are. There's always that one Christian in our lives when we get to the place we feel like our life is about to crumble that comes into our lives. We can't take it anymore. Some well meaning Christian gives us this annoying Christian advice, right? And here's what they say. Well, Matt, I know. I know. I know, this is hard. I know everything is upside down. But Matt, here it is. God, here's our statement for today that the Bible doesn't say.  God will never give you more than you can handle. 

You've said it.  Those of you that just laughed. Yes, that's your go to line. All right? You walk by a coffin. You don't know what to say. Cuz nobody knows what to say. Really? I mean, it's like, well, I had a great aunt that died once and let me just tell this guy that lost his wife that statement. No, don't say that either. But this is what we do. We get into the situation and we've all said it. You know what, brother because you gotta use the word brother when you're talking like this right? God will never give you more than you can handle, to which here's the thing as a pastor, part of me just wants to punch people in the face. But I know I can't do that. All right, I just need to self confess, I can't do that. But here's the thing. The reality is life is about as opposite to that as anything. It really, truly is, here's the thing, God is going to give you more than you can handle. And we just need to understand that about life. We need to understand that it's going to be harder than we can get to. So here's the question, why do we believe that? Why do we get to this point in our lives where we believe that God is not going to give us more than we can handle? I can tell you why some of us believe it is because we have misinterpreted a verse of scripture out of 1 Corinthians 10. 1 Corinthians 10.  

I want you to go ahead and get there with me because we're going to spend some time there. And then we're going to spend some time all over the Bible. First Corinthians is a book that Paul wrote to the people of Corinth, actually it was to the church at Corinth and if you know a whole lot about the church of Corinth, it was, I mean, the church of Corinth was in this really difficult situation. The town of Corinth was kind of like the Las Vegas of the day. It was just nasty. It was immoral. There was idolatry that was happening all over the place. And it was beginning to seep into the church, this Gentile kind of church community. And it was this incredibly raw society that was having to deal with the woes and deal with the stuff that was happening out there. And what Paul's doing in the book of 1 Corinthians and he's encouraging this church at Corinth not to give in to where the rest of the society was. Don't give in he's saying, don't be tempted to this, don't go to this, don't do this. Jesus is enough. He keeps saying it over and over and over and over, all through these first 10 chapters of Corinthians. And then all of a sudden, we get to this incredibly powerful verse in 1 Corinthians 10:13, where he's speaking to these people, and it shapes their life. In fact, let me just read this verse to you, because this is the verse that we have all jumped off the deep end and taken this out of context. Here it is. This is what Paul says to them. Paul says, "No temptation has overtaken you. Except that which is common to man." All right, we're gonna dive back into this a little deeper later. And God, here it is, "And God is faithful. He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear." 

There it is. That's where we all get it from right there. All right?  That's where we all take it, we circle it. That's our funeral. That's our sorrow advice. "God 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." Now notice the scripture right here. It never says that God is not going to allow you to have more than you can bear. It never says that you will always know personally the way to navigate your way through this situation. It never says that you're gonna know the way out. It never says that you're gonna even know why you face the trial that you're in. It never says that God is gonna get rid of the trial today, God is gonna get rid of the trial tomorrow or even that God is gonna get rid of it later on in your life. What it does say is that when temptations hit us, when there's times that we're making decisions to either cave into culture, or to walk in the name and the power in the majestic power of Jesus, that God will always give us an out.  

He will always provide for us a way to know Him, to worship Him and to be with Him. What it's saying is, that you might not know that today, but you will know in eternity, what He does, because remember, God is playing the long game. He's playing the long game with our lives. Yes, is He concerned with me now? Yes, but He's more concerned with eternity spending it with you and with me that's what Jesus was for. Right? That's right, that's why He  gave His life as a ransom for my sins, so that I can know who He is. So what this is saying is that you're not going to be tempted. You could put the word test in there. It's a synonym beyond what you can bear, when here it is, when you're trusting and relying on Jesus's power. That's what it's saying right here. So here's what I need to do. I need you to think back about the Bible for a minute because we need to debunk this myth.

The Bible never says that God's not gonna give you more than you can handle. So how do I know that? Well, because I can just look at the Bible and tell the book of Judges. In the book of Judges, Gideon steps up to the plate in front of all these people. And he says, Hey, I am the weakest of my clan. I am I'm the least of my family, and he looks at God and says God I don't have what it takes to do this. Moses, an incredible leader. You remember back in Moses' life, he said the same thing, right? He looks at God after he we was called and Moses is like, God, I can't do this. I'm not equipped to do this. I'm not a good leader. I can't walk this in my life. Esther, stands before the king, stands before God and says, hey, I am incredibly afraid to the point where I can't even take a step. King David, we looked at him all summer long in the summer of Psalms. We saw this over and over and over when his sin was bearing on him when he was at the point of no return. King David says this in Psalm 38:4, King David says that my guilt, what did he say, has overwhelmed me like a burden that is too heavy to bear. 

So this guy that is a man after God's own heart has literally just debunked the myth right here, right? When he says that I am overwhelmed. Now if I'm overwhelmed, that means I'm whelmed beyond what I can do, right? It means that I can't do anymore. I can't get there anymore. And what is he saying? This is just too much for me to bear. It's too much. Then he goes on in verse 8, and listen to what he says, "I'm feeble and I'm utterly crushed and I  groan with anguish of heart."  What is King David saying? He's saying, I don't have what it takes. And I know what some of you're thinking.  Well, Matt, those are Old Testament. Okay, let's look at the New Testament for a minute. Let's look at the Apostle Paul for just a minute.  In 2 Corinthians, a second book to the same people, chapter 1:8, he says, "We don't want you to be uninformed brothers and sisters about the troubles that we experienced in the providence of Asia." We don't have time to go back through all the troubles but believe me, they were incredible and they were way, way, way, way, way, bigger than your ingrown toenail. That's all I can tell you right here. Okay? But listen to what he says. "We were under great pressure far beyond, now this is the same guy that says that God's not gonna tempt you more than you can handle. He says, "We were under great pressure far beyond our ability to endure so that we despaired life itself. Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death, but this happened that we might not rely on ourselves, but on God who raises the dead." What is Paul saying? 

Paul is saying right here, this is more than I can do. This is more than I can handle. God has put a weight on us that we felt like he was killing us. Now that debunks the myth that God's not going to give us more than we can handle. Why? Because he just said it right? This is more than I can do. I can't do it, even Jesus. Jesus in Mark 14, Jesus says in the Garden of Gethsemane.  He's about to become sin on our behalf and He's praying to God as the sin of the world is being placed on his back. And what did Jesus do? Jesus debunks this myth,  right? Mark 14:33, "Then He took Peter, James and John along with Him, and He began to be deeply distressed and troubled", and listen to what Jesus said that I so resonate with in my life. "My soul is overwhelmed."

Have you ever noticed that right there?  That the creator of the universe literally just said, this is too much. It's too much. My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow. He says to the point of death, Jesus is sweating drops of blood, He is praying on our behalf. And Jesus realizes at that moment that God never said that I'm not gonna give You more than You can handle. So here's what I need to do this morning.

Number one, I need to never hear those words, God will never give you more than you can handle,  ever again. Why? Because he does. He does. But here's the question, why does He?  Right? That's what we need to answer because that's the next logical thing, because I'm just not gonna stand up here and go oh, that's wrong. Don't worry about it. I want to give you the why. So here's the thing if you're in one of those seasons right now where you feel like you are heavy and you are under this deep weight of despair. Why is it that God leaves you there? Why is it?  I don't think I've ever heard anybody tell me why?   But I want to give you two reasons there's a bunch, I want to give you the two main ones this morning. Because I think it's important for us to understand these.  Number 1,  God will allow us to have more than we can handle to teach us, here it is, to teach us to depend on his presence. God allows the weight to be more than I can do, more than I can bear to teach me to rely on him and, catch this, not me. Not me. Let me just be very honest. And, say this. How many of you when life is going really well.  I mean, you know what I'm talking about how many of you when life is going really, really well, you have a tendency at that moment to forget God's presence? You say, Matt, I would never.  Okay, let's just be honest, this is a safe space here. Okay? It's a safe space. I mean, think about it all is good, life is great, the kids are actually doing what they're supposed to do. The bills are all being paid, work is not horrible. And it's okay right now, the family is fine. Everybody is healthy. And what do we do we get to this point in our lives where we're kind of in this mode of yeah, gotta know you're there. And I know you're present. And I know you're around. But God, I'll check in with you later. Why? Because at that moment, we just don't feel an urgent need for a savior. Right? We just don't. Why? Because we're thrilled. We're thinking about ourselves at that moment. But what happens, all right, let's just be honest. What happens when the bottom falls out? What happened when life caves in when the opposite happens, when the money runs out, when the kids become like mini little demons in my house, and the bills can't be paid, and I got to live with that guy for another year. I mean, what is it?  What happens?   I go from this idea of I just don't feel an urgent need to now what is my language.  It is  God, help me, right?

That's what happens in our lives. You know you've been there. Don't look at me like I'm the only one. I know you've been there because I've been there are a lot in my life. Why? Because I'm pre conditioned to to trust myself. I'm pre conditioned to do things on my own power. But when the life falls around me, when the opposite happens, when I don't know which end is up, where do I turn, if I know that if I'm a believer, where do I turn? I turn to the Lord, right?  I turn to His presence. In fact, I LOVE LOVE, LOVE Jonah. Remember the story of Jonah? This guy in the Old Testament. He is called to go reach Nineveh and he basically looks at God, he's like no, I'm out. I'm taking this boat. I'm out. He's like, I'm gone. And so so he jumps in the boat. God says okay, watch this. Ends up being thrown off the boat because of the storms.  There a giant fish swallows him and unless you're my age then it was a whale back then a giant fish swallows him. And in the middle of this situation Jonah goes from this idea of I'm in control, I'm in control, I'm in control to now he realizes that no, no, in the midst of this trouble, God is in control and listen to what Jonah says in Jonah 2:2. I love this. This should be the theme of my life right here. He says, this, "In my distress, I call to the Lord and He answers me."  You want to know why God sometimes lets you sit in the situations that you're in? Because here it is, it is in my distress, let me rhyme, not in my success. That God meets me most. He really is.

It's in my distress.  What he's showing me right here, is he's showing us that we crave God in the distressful moments of life, therefore, sometimes God allows us to sit in these. Matt, that doesn't sound real fair. It does sound fair when eternity is the goal. It does. And he keeps going look at verse 7 in Jonah 2:7. Listen to what Jonah said. Jonah says, "When my life was ebbing away, I remembered you, Lord, in my prayer, it rose to you." It rose to you. What is it? What does it mean? When you remember something that means you weren't thinking about it earlier in your success, but because God allowed you to sit in this for a moment, now you're thinking about it, and you're praying about it, and you're remembering it and sometimes God allows you to sit in these moments. So here's the challenge for us. Instead of when life gets hard, when we're praying, God, get me out, get me out, get me out, get me out of this situation, we do this all the time. We start saying God, if you're good, you'll do this. If you love me, you'll do this. And then we get to this point we're like, I don't even believe God cares anymore. Where is God?  Let me give you a principle to always remember and here it is, never let the presence of a storm in your life cause you to doubt the presence of God. Never get it out of your mind that a storm equals that you're not living with God. Why? Because Satan puts it into our lives that if we're in the middle of a storm, it just means that we're not getting out of it. No, no, sometimes God lets us sit in it. He lets us sit in it. Why? Because sometimes that's what it takes to call us to depend on Him. Sometimes it is. 

In fact, King David says this in Psalm 145, he says," The Lord is near to all who call on Him to all who call on Him in truth." So some of you, you're in the middle of a storm right now. And instead of thinking that, hey, I've got to get myself out of this. Why don't we look at it as an opportunity to call to Jesus and realize that we're not alone. And to realize this, some of the things that happen in our lives, it's so that we can reconnect with a loving and a graceful Heavenly Father that wants to walk with us, that wants his presence to be in us, that wants to provide for us and wants to give to us. Instead of us saying, Hey, no, no, no, I can just do this thing on my own. That's what we believe when we believe that God doesn't give us more than we can handle. We believe that we should be handling the situation, rather than the presence of God. You see, here's the deal, I am convinced, let me get personal again for a minute. I am convinced that the day my brother died. It was more than I can handle. It was more than I could handle, I'm just gonna be honest. And here's what happened. In that broken spirit of a moment, God changed the trajectory of my life. And I would not be here today if it didn't happen. I wouldn't be. I'm convinced. I'm convinced that a year's worth of sitting in the cancer lab every third Friday at Kennestone Hospital changed my life. It put a level of dependency on God that I've never had in my life. I've never, even as a professional Christian, right. I've never had it. But it took that in my life. Did I pray to get out of it? Yeah, but did God leave me in that for a year? Why? I don't know all the reasons. But I do know one reason,  I learned how to depend,  to depend. You see maybe you've got the same backstory, right? But sometimes we get to these places, and God is looking at us going, hey, it's only when you get to the end of the road and you realize there's nowhere else to go that you look to me and realize you need to depend on me in order to see God move. Sometimes He has to leave us in the situations. And I know, I know that you can experience God on the mountaintops. I know you have been in those moments with people.  But I'm going to tell you this about my life. I experienced them so much sweeter in the valleys. So much more powerful in the valleys. I think that's why David said in Psalm 23:4, "Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death", and then when I get to the bottom, what does he say? "I will fear no evil because Jesus you are with me." You're with me. 

You see, here's the thing, I would rather be in the valley dependent upon Jesus than on the mountaintop by myself. That's why he leaves us there. 

So number one, why does he leave us? Why does he give us more than we can handle? Number one, it's just so that we can depend on his presence. But here's number two, this one's a little quicker. It's to allow us to experience His power.

He leaves us in these situations that are more than I can handle, not only to draw me to his presence, but to show me God's ever eternal power. He does it. What does he do? He wants me,  listen, God wants us to experience His supernatural power. Because of this, so many of us are really good at doing life on our own. We're really good. Why? Because we've always been taught that right? We've always been taught, you're responsible, you're in control. You are the only one that can do it. You should be able to make it through this. You should be strong enough to get through this. But listen, God leaves us in these situations in life so that we can experience His supernatural power. That's why this lie is so just raunchy. Because if we believe that God will only give us what we can handle, what we're saying to God is, there's never going to be a moment in my life that I need you to take control with your supernatural power. This is a little deeper than just saying, right? When we believe that we are in control, that we have all the means, that we have all the power, we have reduced God to nothing more than a friend and His power is not moving in my life to get me through something. But when we believe that sometimes there's things that are just can't handle and we can see God's experiential, incredible supernatural power in our life. The lie is is that we're capable of getting through life without God. Just try harder. You've heard this. Just try harder, just be more obedient. Just be this, just go for it. No, sometimes, it's not gonna work. Sometimes we just have to get to a point with God and go God, I can not do this, you're gonna have to step in, and I'm gonna have to sit here till you do.

Can I just tell you something? This is an incredibly freeing statement, just been chewing on it all week. You were not created to have all the power yourself. You were created to need God. When's the last time you thought about that?

You were created to need the power and the presence and to rely on God in everything. In fact, that's what this scripture is saying to us our main text 1 Corinthians 10:13. Let me read it to you again, "No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind." What does that mean? That means there's nothing new that you're going through that somebody else hasn't gone through and that God has already paved the way whatever you're going through right now. It's a common struggle. You're not the first, you're not going to be the last. And it says this and God is faithful. Somebody needed to hear that this morning. That God is faithful!

That's a big promise. And He will also provide a way out so that you can endure it. What does that mean? That God will not allow these things to eternally take you? He's not going to. It may take you today. It may take you tomorrow, but it's not going to take you eternally. And here's the powerful statement, He will give you a way out. Do you realize that God wants you out. That the desire of God's heart is not for you to sit in the sorrow, the desire of God's heart is for you to fully trust Him to depend upon Him fully realize His power, and He wants to deliver you so that you can preach that to others. That's God's plan for your life. I love what CS Lewis says. He says it like this,"It's not that God won't give you more than you can handle, but that God will help you handle all that you have been given. I love that and I love how the Apostle Paul has showed us this statement in 2 Corinthians.  If you remember right, 2 Corinthians, Paul is praying to God.  God this thorn in my flesh, I hate it. I got to get rid of it. I got to get rid of it. I got to get rid of it. Remember, he prayed three times and I'm not talking about like, breakfast, lunch and dinner. I mean three seasons of fasting and praying and asking God and he's like God, take it away from me. And here's the deal. I'm thinking, hey, if God's gonna heal somebody, He's gonna heal Paul, right? I mean, he's a pretty important dude in eternity, He probably should heal him. But in 2 Corinthians 12:8, Paul shows us this, "Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But He said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.  Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses so that Christ's power may rest on me."  What does that mean? I'm gonna boast on the fact that God gives me more than I can handle because given God steps in, He in my weakness will be made known.  Verse 10, "That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong."

And look, it's conditional, right? When I'm weak, it is only at that point, then I am strong. So if I'm walking around, puffed up thinking, He's never gonna give me more than I can handle, it's at that point, I'm not weak. Why? Because I'm feeling like I just need to be stronger. I need to be stronger. I need to be stronger. But when God gets to the point in my life, He says, you can't handle this and I go, God, you are right. And I am weak. It is at that point, God's strength and His power flows through my life. It flows through my life. You see, when I don't have what it takes, it is at that point, I lean on a power that does.  When I don't have what it takes it at that point in my life that I lean on His eternal promises.  When I confess I don't have what it takes. It is at that point that God places in me the same power that rose Christ from the dead.  When I am weak, I am strong when I am weak, I am strong. Here's the crazy part about this. God is just waiting on us to confess to him.

This is too much. It's not the American way though, is it?  We're taught to be stronger.  We're taught to stand up. To never show weakness. Hey, and listen to me.  I'll be straight honest with you when I feel like standing here and  when I feel like sometimes it is at the least I have nothing to offer. It's at that point that God steps in and says I got you. I got you. I got you.

This doesn't happen when I'm on my own. I got to thinking all week, I was like, God I need a word picture for this. This is just a little heavy. So here's how I can describe this. It's kind of like the difference of, of rowing and sailing. Here's the thing. Rowing, it's great. I mean it's fabulous. I don't know about you it's a fabulous deal especially when it's 95 degrees outside and you go for like nine hours it's fabulous right?

Rowing is, I mean when you're in a boat and you're going,  it gets a little hot and look I guess so fun until like hour four and you're sunburned and you're like, where are we?   It's great.  Something about rowing that's important.  Rowing is only done when my power is in control,  right?  When I am moving myself forward. That's not where God's called us to live. God has called us to live as if we're sailing.  Have you  ever been sailing?   I have one time and it was really cool. Didn't know what was going on, I was just enjoying the day. When you're sailing, they tell me, as long as you put the right sail up, the wind takes care of everything else.

Man, what a thought? What a thought that goes against this law right? My whole Live. I've been a rower. I've been a rower, try harder, try harder, try harder, try harder, be better, be better, but God's gonna just put the sale up!  You dummy! Just put the sail up. Let me handle it. Let me do it. So here's the deal.

Whatever you're going through, it's not yours to hold on to. Give up control, Put the sail up. God wants us to put the sail up and allow Him to move. Here's the thing. If you're going to, if you're gonna stand for Jesus, it's gonna be too much for you to handle. I promise you let God's power move. If you're going to resist temptation, it's gonna be too much for you to handle. Let God's power move. If you're gonna live on mission, it's gonna be too much for you to handle. Let God's power move. If you're gonna make it through cancer. It's gonna be too much for you to handle. Let God's power move. If you're going to be that family that chooses to adopt and chooses to foster, I promise you, it's gonna be too much for you to handle. Let God's power move.  If you're gonna invest in ministry, it's gonna be too much for you.   Let God's power move. If you're gonna be married to that woman. It's gonna be too much for you.

Let God's power move. If you're gonna be married to that man, hallelujah. It's already too much. Let His power move. You're gonna raise that teenager, hallelujah. It's gonna be too much for you. Let God's power move. Instead of saying, I'm strong enough. I'm good enough. God won't give me too much. I'll get it all done. I'll stand on my own. Please know that you are not created to do this life on your own when I am weak, He is strong. He is strong.

Stop rowing and start sailing, because his grace is sufficient. His power is eternal. And he wants you to walk into it.  Why would God allow you to have more than you can handle?  To draw you close to his presence and to show you his power. Listen, that gets me excited about taking the blows right there. Because I want that in my life.

Because His power is made perfect in my weakness. And I don't have what it takes. I really don't.  I want you to do something with me this morning and wherever you're at if you're at home or in the house here, I just want you to bow your heads for a minute. I just want to get just gut level honest with you for a minute and I just want to ask you.  Is this where you're living? Are you living in this lie that it's up to you to take care of all this? Because if you are, this is a tough life.

You know, maybe you're walking with a person in a situation right now and,  you today just needed to hear that it was, it was only by catching the wind of God in His power that you can make it.

You know, I want to pray for you this morning if that's you. You know if you're in that life situation right now where you just feel like it's too heavy, it's too deep. And I don't know what to do. Would you do me a favor? Nobody else is looking around. It's just you and God.

Would you just confess that today would you just lift up your hand and say, God I'm in a spot right now that I don't know how,  I don't know where, I don't know why, I do not think I can get out of this. Would you just lift up your hand?  Nobody else is looking around. I just want to pray with you. I want to pray for you. Just want honesty. This is your confession before the Lord. This is you putting this sail up in the air right here. Yeah, I'm living right there right now. Man, I know I am. I'm there.

I want to pray for you, Lord Jesus, Today I pray in the power of your Holy Spirit, that You would just be real to Your children today, that You would show us that You are in control, You would show us as we call on You, that your desire is to draw us close to You and God that You will allow, God that You would see us in our brokenness and that God, we would offer up our lives to us so that Your strength can be made perfect in our weaknesses. God, we pray today that Your grace would flow over us that it is enough.   God I pray today for those people who have never met You as their Savior, who have never met You as their Lord who have always tried to do life on their own, that they can realize that they can submit to the Maker of the universe, Lord.

And that You step into that their lives, You will forgive them of their sins. You will give them hope. Because God you provide a way out. Jesus in the quietness of this moment in the worst sinfulness of this moment, I pray for people who need to just say to You today, Dear Jesus, I need You in my life. I need You to forgive me my sins. And I need You to come into my heart as my Savior. And as my Lord. Thank you, Jesus, for being mine. It's in Your name. 

You know, before we sing today, I'm just gonna ask you if you've given your life to Christ today, if you need to take that next step and offer Him up your life or if you just need somebody to pray with you today. During our socially distanced time, we're just going to ask you to do this. We gonna ask you just to text the word next to the numbers that's on the screen. And here why we do that, it's not to be awkward. It's just to be relevant it's to be real. And to have somebody follow up with you where you're at to say, hey, I know where you're thinking, I know where you're at. I just want you to know that I'm behind you.   And  if you've given your life to Christ today, just text that word, Next and somebody will call you and talk to you in 24 hours. If you just need somebody to pray for you today. If you just feel like you're in it, and you don't know what to do, man, just text that number and somebody will reach out to you today. Just to say, hey, we're with you. We're here. That's what this church family is about. Let's do something together. Let's stand together. Let's sing for just a moment. Maybe you need to do just a moment of business with the Lord.