Power Napping
– By Joe Fornear I hear it often when talking with people fighting cancer. “I don’t know how people do this without the Lord.” Indeed. In actuality, nothing in life was intended by our Maker to be “do-it-yourself.” We were…
– By Joe Fornear I hear it often when talking with people fighting cancer. “I don’t know how people do this without the Lord.” Indeed. In actuality, nothing in life was intended by our Maker to be “do-it-yourself.” We were…
So yes, God does give us more than we can handle, but only so we can handle much more eternally significant matters - through Him!
Interestingly, before God restores Job’s health, family and fortunes, He asks him to pray for the well-being of his friends, releasing them from the scars they inflicted. After all, the Lord did not want Job’s nightmare to continue. Whether real or imagined, revenge only breeds more pain. So don’t release the Kraken… on yourself!
So what does this mean for us? The significance of Jesus’ seating at the right hand of the Father was about His authority over enemies. The same is true for us, if indeed we’re seated with Him and we are! We have been given the authority and the ability to say no to fear and worry, temptation and sin! We have access to the exact same resurrection power so that we can have the strength to rise above our circumstances! Perhaps we should reserve Easter Monday to celebrate our seating with Him in the heavenly places! Will you join me?
That thing I'm clinging to... isn't really gone, it's put into the hands of the One Who gives His life to it in a way that keeps it safe from my worship and control.
It’s hard for me to judge Lance. Had I been in his shoes, I may have followed the same mountaintop path to vain glory that he chose. As I watched him confess before the world, the takeaway for me was the theme of our books and our ministry: It’s okay to be weak. Admitting weakness will make us strong as we lean on the Lord.
What is true for physical limits “carries” over to spiritual and emotional limits. We can only haul so many burdens before control squirts out of our hands. Nerves shatter. Tempers are lost. We stumble under the weight.
Jesus certainly shed real tears in His adult life, so why would crying as a baby be a problem?
So when it seems you're running on empty and He has given you more than you can handle, ask Him to fill you to overflowing with His Holy Spirit’s power.
Relax your mind and heart – don’t permit them to race on over various scenarios. Focus instead on the Lord and His love and power.