God is my strength and power, and He makes my way perfect.
2 Samuel 22:33

This past weekend we went out of town to spend a couple of days visiting my sister. While there we attended a friend's church.

The pastor said something during his teaching that kind of caught me off guard. He brought up how people often say "God will never give us more than we can handle." 

It's a very common idea. I'm sure I've said it a few times and thought it myself many more. I actually saw two different people make reference to it just this morning on Facebook!

But here's what he said about it: the Bible never says that.

He definitely got my attention.

My husband and I discussed it after church and came to the conclusion that there is a verse that says something similar, but it is specifically addressing the issue of temptation. Not life in general.

To be honest I was kind of bothered by this pastor calling into question an idea that I've always found some degree of comfort in.

But after I listened to him talk about it, I realized he had a really good point.

The problem with saying God will never give us more than we can handle is that the emphasis is on us. We can handle it. Because we are strong. And if we feel like we can't handle it, then maybe God can meet us halfway and help us out. But ultimately what this idea emphasizes is that whatever God brings, we can get through it by relying on ourselves.

I don't see that when I read the Bible. What I see over and over and over again is God instituting laws and allowing circumstances to show His people that they are completely unable to do anything. That they can't measure up, that they aren't strong enough, and that their only hope is Him.

The pastor said God calls us to a life of dependency — not a life of ability.

I know this goes against what is comfortable to us. I like to feel self-sufficient. I like to feel able. I like to feel like I can do it all myself. That is what's comfortable.

But in trying to be all of that, there is no rest. Because I am striving to be something that I can never be.

I've fought this dependency for a long time. Insistent that I could be good enough on my own. Maybe occasionally God could step in and  give me a little extra boost. But mostly I'd do it myself.

But that's just not how it works. It took God allowing circumstances in my life to bring me to the complete end of my abilities for me to realize that my strength was nothing. Any strength and ability I have is by His grace, and without Him I can do nothing.

This is the message that we see in God's word. People who are inadequate, insufficient, unable. But God. 

God who is fully adequate, fully sufficient and fully able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we could ask or think. He is the strength. He is the power. He is everything. 

I just read these verses this morning; victorious men who would be admired for their apparent strength speaking this truth:

You are my King, O God;
Command victories for Jacob.
Through You we will push down our enemies;
Through Your name we will trample those who rise up against us.
For I will not trust in my bow,
Nor shall my sword save me.
But You have saved us from our enemies,
And have put to shame those who hated us.
In God we boast all day long,
And praise Your name forever.
Psalm 44:4-8

Their strength and abilities were not what led to their victory. The victory was God's. The verse previous to these emphasizes that even further:

For they did not gain possession of the land by their own sword;
Nor did their own arm save them;
But it was Your right hand, Your arm, and the light of Your countenance,
Because You favored them.

Our strength is not really our own. It is God-given. And when we start to rely on ourselves, the result is pride. Pride separates us from God. And leaves us to do all the work all on our own and never be satisfied because we can never be enough.

But if we recognize our inability, and surrender to a life of dependency, then God can be all that He desires to be in our lives. And among many other wonderful things, we can find rest.

Today when I saw someone write God never gives us more than we can handle, I thought maybe. Or maybe God does give us way more than we can handle because He wants us to see that we were never meant to handle anything. We were created to simply abide in Him.

It is when we sink down in utter helplessness that the everlasting God will reveal Himself in His power.
Then our hearts will learn to trust God alone. 

If I am something, then God is not everything;
but when I become nothing, God can become all.

Andrew Murray
Absolute Surrender

Yesterday I talked about one prerequisite to rest.

Today I'd like to consider another: If trust is what gives us the ability to stand, then faith is what enables us to walk.

In looking over God's visible presence and providence in my life, I find Him to be trustworthy. And so I can stand.

But then there is now. The moment in front of me, and all of the moments I anticipate following that. How do I move forward?

I know the importance of letting go of tomorrow. But really, practically, how do I do that?

Faith.

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
Hebrews 11:1

During the time when I was struggling with trusting God, I was also wrestling over the idea of living by faith.

I'm not fond of unpredictable. I like things neat and tidy and in order, and I like to know what's coming when and exactly how I need to prepare for it.

This aspect of my personality means that I'm not naturally one to do things based on faith. Reason. Logic. Careful analysis. This is how I prefer to go about things.

And that's all fine; in many ways even good.

BUT, that's not any way to live life. Because there are things beyond my control. And even more things beyond my understanding. So when it comes to things I can't control or can't understand, I am left with two choices: give up or live by faith.

What changed everything was realizing that really, truly, everybody lives by faith. Even those who don't consider themselves people "of faith" still live by faith. 

We live by faith when we walk onto a deserted bridge. We believe the bridge will hold us. But if we've never crossed it before and no one is on it in front of us, we can't know that it will.

We live by faith when we eat our food. Faith that our bodies will process it and it will benefit us. Faith that it won't harm us. Even if you've eaten that same thing a hundred times before, how do you know that this piece of it isn't the one that's contaminated? You don't until you try it, and you would never try it if you didn't have some faith that it was fine.

We live by faith when we go to sleep. We have absolutely no control over whether or not we will wake up. We believe we will. We trust that we will because we always have before. But every night we live by faith as we close our eyes and believe we will open them again in the morning.

We have faith the sun will rise day after day after day. We have faith that if we plant a seed something will grow from it. We have faith that if we take our medicine it will make us well. We have faith that the people we love do love us in return. We have faith that if we exercise our bodies we will grow stronger. We have faith that there will be air for every breath we need and that our heart will continue to beat and that our blood will flow through our veins and our minds will control it all even when we have absolutely no control over any of it.

Faith is essential to life.

This is not up for debate. It's just the truth.

So what it came down to for me one day was realizing the question was not could I live by faith, but would I put my faith in God?

Because I was going to live by putting my faith in someone or something.

I could put my faith in people. But at some point they would fail.

I could put my faith in my health. But at some point that would fail.

I could put my faith in creation. But I think we all know that our poor planet is not immortal. 

I could put my faith in doctors and medicine or diet or exercise. But we all know none of those things are one hundred percent reliable.

The object of my faith would be the source of my rest.

So how on earth could I put my faith anywhere else but in God? The King, eternal, immortal, invisible who alone is wise. There is nothing or no one who can compare with Him. 

But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for He who comes to God must believe that He is,
and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
Hebrews 11:6

Jesus says "Come to Me, and I will give you rest."

But how do I come?

By faith.

'Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus,
Just to take Him at His word,
Just to rest upon His promise;
Just to know, Thus saith the Lord.

Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him
How I've proved Him o'er and o'er.
Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus
Oh, for grace to trust Him more.

Louisa Stead

Trust is a weighty thing. So essential. So foundational to life. Yet such a fragile thing. When rattled it is easily damaged and very slow and difficult to repair.

You know I like defining my words. Trust is defined as:

reliance on the integrity, strength, ability, or surety of a person; confidence.

Trust is essential to rest. You cannot rely on or have confidence in a person you do not trust. Therefore, you cannot look to Jesus as the source of rest if you do not trust Him.

I grew up trusting, walking confidently in the faith of a child.

But as an adult I went through a season where my trust was shaky at best. Trying circumstances had caused me to question if God was really trustworthy. 

The amazing blessing in all of it was realizing God could handle my uncertainty and questioning. I was so comforted by the thought that He knows our frailties, and His love for us is not conditional.

This hesitancy in my trust towards God was a quiet but persistent presence for awhile.

Until one night, visiting an out of town church, sitting and singing a song I've sung my whole life.

Through many dangers, toils, and snares I have already come;
'Tis grace has brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home.

These are the words that grabbed my attention and blazed in my mind like a neon light. 

I stopped, and I looked back at my life. I stopped focusing on this place I was in and started looking back at all of the places I'd been. All of the details of my life up to now. 

And I saw a God who had cared for every detail. Good and bad. How many dangers, toils and snares had I come through, never bothering to see the hand that brought me through them?

In looking back I realized it would be utter foolishness not to trust the One who had been caring for me my whole life. 

Like the Israelites who struggled in the wilderness, and needed to be reminded of God's care for them:

For the Lord your God has blessed you in all the work of your hand.
He knows your trudging through this great wilderness.
These forty years the Lord your God has been with you; you have lacked nothing.
Deuteronomy 2:7

So now, on days like today when it's just one thing after another and I start to feel like everything is completely out of control…

I remember. I sit and I count and recount all the ways that I have experienced God's faithfulness. And I hold on to that. And I choose to trust. Because when I give Him my trust, He gives me His rest.

At the beginning of this series I felt it was so important to make a case for rest. Without any good reason why, it would be hard to choose rest.

After that I wanted you to consider how we can rest, in spite of different  circumstances and seasons of life.

Now as this series is starting wrap up, I'd like to take the focus off of us.

I was inspired by Emily's post this weekend about being small.

Particularly one line:

When I remember that the world does not revolve around me, I can stop trying to make it spin, and instead enter it, free.

It's one of those things that is hard to wrap your brain around: I was created to rest, and rest is important for me, but life is not about me, so I need to shift my focus and remember it's all about God. 

As I've mentioned in numerous ways, it seems that when that shift takes place, when we stop trying so hard to be the center of our world, that's when we find rest.

My life is not really about me. This is the truth we all need to grasp. I know it's offensive to some. I'm sorry if it offends you. But truth is truth.

If it makes you feel any better, know that though I believe this truth, it is often uncomfortable. At those times it helps to focus on what God's Word tells me about my life.

When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,
The moon and the stars, which You have ordained,
What is man that You are mindful of him,
And the son of man that You visit him?
Psalm 8:3

Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter:
Fear God and keep His commandments,
For this is man's all.
Ecclesiastes 12:13

He has shown you, O man, what is good;
And what does the Lord require of you but to do justly,
To love mercy, 
And to walk humbly with your God?
Micah 6:8

For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and your spirit, which are God's.
1 Corinthians 6:20

For by Him all things were created that are in the heavens and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers.
All things were created through Him and for Him.
Colossians 1:16

Perspective changes everything.

Lord, we give you thanks for all that You in Your mercy have given us to be and to do and to have.
Deliver us, Lord, from all greed to be and to do and to have anything not in accord with Your holy purposes.
Teach us to rest quietly in Your promise to supply, recognizing that if we don't have it we don't need it.
Teach us to desire Your will — nothing more, nothing less, and nothing else.
For Jesus' sake. Amen.

Elisabeth Elliot