Amelia Church of Christ - Christian Church in Amelia, OH near Cincinnati in Clermont County

Welcome to the second message in a series called When Life & Truth Collide. The premise of this series is something that all of us have dealt with in our lives. The collision of life and truth.

We believe that the Bible is the inspired Word of God. So when the Bible says something, we regard it as truth. But then sometimes life seems to contradict that truth. The Bible says one thing, but our life seems to say something different. Life and truth collide.

A lot of you have told me how much you love this church because it’s real. We talk about real issues. We don’t mask stuff in religious jargon, but we just call a spade a spade. We’re real.

A lot of preachers wouldn’t preach this series because it doesn’t seem spiritual to suggest that there are times when life and truth collide. But it is the reality we live in. We constantly live in the midst of this collision. And if we don’t explore how to navigate the collision of life and truth, then we’re simply not going to make it.

So in this series, we’re ripping into the collision. What do we do when life and truth collide?

Today, we’re exploring the collision of a burdened life. Let’s pray and we’ll dive into it.

The collision of a burdened life. It looks like this. God has promised me that he wouldn’t give me anymore than I can handle…but I just can’t take it anymore. He promised that he wouldn’t allow me to take on any burdens that I can’t handle, but my life has just dealt me a crushing blow and I can’t stand up under it anymore. Life and truth are colliding. God promised one thing, but life is delivering something else. Let’s explore the collision.

First of all, this collision is based on something that we think the Bible says, but it actually doesn’t say. How many of you have heard that God won’t give you more than you can handle? We hear it all the time. We think that it’s in the Bible. But actually, it isn’t. It’s something that Christians say, but it’s something that the Bible doesn’t specifically say.

The verse that a lot of people run to is 1 Corinthians 10:13. “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. 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 stand up under it.” (1 Corinthians 10:13, NIV)

The theme of this verse is temptation. There is no new temptation on earth. When we are tempted to sin, our temptation “is common to man.” In other words, we’re not the first ones to ever deal with it. Billions of other people have dealt with the same temptation.

And then this verse promises that God is faithful. He won’t let us be tempted beyond what we can bear, but when we’re tempted to sin, he always provides an escape if we’re willing to take it.

This verse is talking about temptation to sin. Not burdens of life. When someone refers to this verse and says that God won’t give you more than you can handle, they usually apply it to an illness, or an accident, or death. It’s not usually packaged in the context of temptation. But we have to honestly interpret what the Bible says. And an honest interpretation of this verse shows us that it is about temptation, not tragedy.

The truth is that you can’t find a verse in the Bible that says, “God won’t give you more than you can handle.” It’s just not there.

In fact, not only is this statement not in the Bible, it’s not even true. “God won’t give you more than you can handle” is not a true statement.

That sounds very unspiritual, doesn’t it? But it’s real. It’s true. How many of you have seen the roof of your life come crashing down and you just couldn’t handle it? It happens. And it doesn’t just happen to people who aren’t Christians. It happens to believers. People who are hard core, committed disciples of Jesus go through seasons when life truly is more than they can handle.

The message of the Bible is not that God won’t give you more than you can handle.

The message of the Bible is that we can’t handle life alone. That’s the bad news.

The good news is that we don’t have to. We’re not called to handle life alone. God consistently promises in Scripture that he will never leave us, never abandon us, never desert us, never forsake us.

The Bible doesn’t say that God will never give you more than you can handle.

But the Bible does say, “Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. (Psalm 73:25-26, NIV)

Break this text open and let the truth of God speak into your life. My flesh and my heart my fail. I’m going to have trouble. I’m going to have problems. My life isn’t always going to be a dance through the daisies. There are times when life is very hard and very painful.

But then look at what comes next. “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” Life may hurt, but God is the strength of my heart. Literally, the original Hebrew text uses the word “rock” instead of “strength.” Literally, it says that God is the rock of my heart! How cool is that?

The Bible tells us that life will have difficult and painful seasons, but God is present. He is our strength, our rock, through it all.

But again, here comes the collision of life and truth. God has promised to never leave me, to always be with me, and yet I feel so alone. Life is crashing down all around me, it feels like I’m being crushed, and yet God seems to be a million miles away. I pray for God’s strength, yet I feel so weak. I want God to be my rock, and yet I’m withering under the burdens of my life. Life and truth are colliding.

If God promises to be our strength, our rock, then why do we still have to deal with the difficult, sometimes crushing, seasons in our lives? God’s Word gives us some indicators as to why God still allows these tough times to happen in our lives.

First of all, God uses tough times to train us.

We don’t often think of our faith this way, but the Bible compares our relationship with Jesus to a sports competition.

Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 9, “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.” (1 Corinthians 9:24-25, NIV)

Every committed athlete goes into intense training. They do it for one reason: they want to win. They want the crown. They want the trophy. They want the championship. But the glory that they achieve by winning is short lived.

I loved this year’s Super Bowl. It was probably the best Super Bowl I’ve ever seen. And I especially loved that the underdog Giants toppled the unbeaten Patriots. It was great!

But a few years from now, most of us won’t remember it. Don’t believe me? Who won the Super Bowl five years ago? Most of us have no idea. Even the most fanatical sports fan has to stop and really think about it. (For the record, the 2003 Super Bowl champion was the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. They beat the Oakland Raiders 48-21.)

The Bible is right when it says that athletes go into strict training for a crown that will not last. But then it makes the contrast between sports and our faith. We’re striving for a crown that will last forever. That’s the difference. The similarity is that both athletics and faith require training.

And one of the ways that God trains us in our faith is through tough times.

The New Testament book of James says, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. (James 1:2-4, NIV)

God uses tough times in our lives to train us. Perseverance is a godly characteristic that is only developed in adversity. James tells us that our spiritual maturity is contingent on our development of perseverance. Simply put, we’ll never mature in our faith if we lack perseverance. And we’ll never develop perseverance if we never go through tough times.

Then James goes on to tell us, “Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.” (James 1:12, NIV)

The promise is that, for the Christ-follower, there are blessings on the other side of the trial. If we allow God to train us in our faith by enduring the hard times, better times will follow.

Steven Furtick wrote, “We got some news the other day that rocked us pretty hard. It felt like 3 uppercuts to the bottom lip. My first reaction was heavy disappointment and a touch of nausea.

Then, I got kind of giddy. Because what seems like a set back to me is usually a set up for the activity of God.

Do yourself a favor. The next time someone brings you bad news, smile. And instead of agonizing over, “How will I get through this?” anticipate what God is about to do. He must be setting you up for something.

Great resistance indicates even greater reward on the other side. New levels of struggle indicate new horizons of blessings.

As I look back over my life, the times that it seemed God was letting me down…

He was just setting me up…”

God uses tough times in our lives to train us. He uses them to develop a tenacious perseverance in us. He uses tough times to train us and to set us up to accomplish more for his kingdom.

God uses tough times to train us. He also uses tough times to test us. God often gauges the depth of our faith and trust in him by allowing us to experience hard, painful times in our lives. At first glance, it doesn’t seem like a very loving thing for God to do. But it’s all done with a very loving motive: God wants to draw us even closer to himself…and there are times when pain and difficulty is the only way he can get our attention.

If life was always just peaches and cream, it would be incredibly easy to forget about God.

The Bible warns us about that in Deuteronomy 8. “When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the LORD your God for the good land he has given you. Be careful that you do not forget the LORD your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day.

Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the LORD your God… (Deuteronomy 8:10-14, NIV)

The takeaway from this Old Testament passage is simple: it’s incredibly easy to forget about God when things are going good. You would think that in good times, we would always remember to thank God. We would always praise God for the blessings we’re experiencing. You would think that this is always the way it would work…but it’s not, is it? It’s scary how easy it is for God’s people to forget all about him in good times.

It’s easy for our Bible to get dusty in good times, but then we run to it for comfort when we’re hurting. We go days, maybe weeks, without prayer when things are running smoothly, but then we hit our knees when life gets hard. God is a passing thought when everything is coming up roses, but when the roses wilt, God is the first place we turn.

It’s an ugly side of human nature, but our tendency is to forget about God in good times. And there are times when the only way God can get our attention is through adversity.

There are times when God uses hurt and hardships to remind us of how much we need him and to test the true depth of our faith.

When Tony Dungy became head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 1996, he wanted to test how his team would respond to adversity. You can’t predict how things are going to play out in a season or even in a single game, and he wanted to know how his players would respond to unexpected difficulty.

During training camp before the season opened, his Buccaneers were scheduled to travel to Jacksonville for a scrimmage against the Jaguars. He decided to disrupt the team’s schedule and bus the team to Jacksonville instead of flying them there. But not only were they going to ride the bus, they were going to do it the day of the scrimmage instead of the day before, which would have been the normal way to do it.

The wake up call for the team came at 4:00 that morning. They were on the buses by 5:00. They rolled into Jacksonville, got off the buses, and went straight into the scrimmage game against the Jaguars…where they were completely annihilated.

Afterward, Tony told his team that they would not let circumstances matter. If things got unusually tough, for whatever reason, they still had to function and get the job done. No excuses. No explanations.

Tony wrote in his book, “As a team, we got some lasting benefit from that experience. For the next several years, when we’d get into crunch time in a game, I’d occasionally hear a player call out, “Come on, guys! It’s time for a five o’clock bus ride!”

When the unexpected, or the unthinkable, happens in our lives, it is a test of our character, our commitment, and our faith. Do we just give this God thing some lip service, or is God truly at the core of who we are? Do we trust him, even when it doesn’t make sense?

There’s an amazing story in the Bible about how God tested Abraham. It’s found in Genesis 22.

“Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, "Abraham!"

"Here I am," he replied.

Then God said, "Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about." (Genesis 22:1-2, NIV)

Things were really going well for Abraham. God had promised him that he and his wife, Sarah, would have a child even though they were well past childbearing years. And God made good on his promise when their son, Isaac, was born. Things are really looking up for Abraham.

And then God speaks to him. That had to be an exciting thing. “Alright! God must be ready to give me another blessing. Bring it on!”

And instead, God gives Abraham the command to go out and kill his only son. Are you kidding me?

Now, let’s pick up the story in the next verse. “Early the next morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance.” (Genesis 22:3-4, NIV)

Let me point out a few things that you may have missed here. God gave Abraham the command to sacrifice his only son, Isaac. Verse three starts out by saying, “Early the next morning,” Abraham set out on the journey. The next morning…meaning that Abraham had to spend the entire night wrestling with the idea of killing his son. Do you honestly think Abraham slept a wink that night?

But read on down in the passage. “On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance.” God commanded Abraham to sacrifice Isaac in the region of Moriah, a three day journey from where he was. For three days, Abraham was carrying this torment inside of him. For three days, he was enduring the agony of what he had to do.

Life and truth were colliding. The truth was that God promised to give him a son that would be the beginning of the great nation of Israel. Life had just dealt him a far different hand. Take that promised son and kill him. Abraham went through three solid days of hellish torment, agonizing over the collision of life and truth.

And then imagine having this conversation with your boy.

“Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, "Father?"

"Yes, my son?" Abraham replied.

"The fire and wood are here," Isaac said, "but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?"

Abraham answered, "God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son." And the two of them went on together.” (Genesis 22:6-8, NIV)

Unbelievable, isn’t it? This would rip the heart out of any parent. I don’t really think it’s possible for us to grasp the sheer torture that Abraham was experiencing.

The story continues. “When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.” (Genesis 22:9-10, NIV)

Abraham has now reached the apex of the collision of life and truth. The firewood for the burnt offering is arranged. Abraham ties up his own son, laying him on top of the wood where he would burn his body. Then he grabs the knife. He looks at the blade, razor sharp, glimmering in the bright sunlight. Abraham’s fingers tighten to a rock hard fist around the knife handle, and he raises it high into the air, ready to plunge the blade into the heart of his son.

"But the angel of the LORD called out to him from heaven, "Abraham! Abraham!"

"Here I am," he replied.

"Do not lay a hand on the boy," he said. "Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son."

Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide. And to this day it is said, "On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided." (Genesis 22:11-14, NIV)

Abraham had passed this test of faith that I know I wouldn’t pass. Honestly, would you have passed? Abraham was a man of more conviction and deeper faith than I could ever hope to be, but to reach that point, Abraham had to be trained and his faith had to be tested. And the way God tested him was with the most agonizing, torturous experience imaginable…the thought of killing his own son.

But we need to see what happened next in our story. “The angel of the LORD called to Abraham from heaven a second time and said, "I swear by myself, declares the LORD, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore.

Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me." (Genesis 22:15-18, NIV)

Greater blessings were awaiting Abraham on the other side of the trial. He stood during the tough times, he obeyed God when it didn’t make sense, and he received greater blessings afterward.

Again, what we view as a set back is often a set up by God to do even greater things in our lives. But what we have to remember is that this happens on God’s timetable, not ours. It may take days, weeks, months, years, even decades to fully realize the blessings of God that come on the other side of adversity.

You may know the Bible story of Job. Job was a man who had it all. Great family, wealth, a beautiful home…Job was living the dream. And on top of that, he was a committed, righteous man of God. Mamas in that town would point to Job and tell their children, “You grow up to be like Job.”

But then tragedy struck. Job lost his income, his staff, even his own children. He even lost his own health. Job had it all, and then he had it all taken away from him. Now later in his life, we know that God ended up blessing Job more than before. Again, greater blessings lie on the other side of our trials. But listen to what the Bible says about Job.

“Brothers, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. As you know, we consider blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job's perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.” (James 5:10-11, NIV)

Key in on the last part. “You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. God did something about Job’s situation…finally. God did it in his time.

God rarely works on our timetable. And therein lies the test of adversity. When my life is burdened beyond what I can handle, I want God to rescue me now. But God does things in his own time. And there’s no fast-forward button to be found. All I can do is believe that God is setting me up for something greater…and be patient as I wait on his timing.

Tony Snow was the press secretary for the Bush administration, until he resigned the position when his cancer returned with a vengeance. He would seem to have every right to be bitter, but instead, listen to what Tony wrote.

“God relishes surprise. We want lives of simple, predictable ease—smooth, even trails as far as the eye can see—but God likes to go off-road. He provokes us with twists and turns. He places us in predicaments that seem to defy our endurance and comprehension—and yet don't. By his love and grace, we persevere. The challenges that make our hearts leap and stomachs churn invariably strengthen our faith and grant measures of wisdom and joy we would not experience otherwise.”

I can’t tell you exactly why there is pain in your life. I can’t explain your hurts or your difficulties or your burdens. When life and truth collide in the context of a burdened life, it hurts.

But it also provides God with a unique opportunity to work. To do something that he wouldn’t have otherwise been able to do. To grow us. To shape us. To impact our lives and the lives of others.

Whatever the reason, we have this promise of Scripture that we can bank on.

“Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall.” (Psalm 55:22, NIV)

Contrary to popular theology, sometimes life deals you more than you can handle. This is why we’re commanded to cast our cares, our burdens, our hurts on God. Because we can’t carry them ourselves. And the promise is that some day, in God’s time, we’ll be able to look back on our pain and see that God never let us fall. In fact, it was him sustaining us, holding us, carrying us all along.

Mike Edmisten

Tags: When Life and Truth Collide, Abraham, burdens, James 1, pain, problem of evil, trials