Monday, June 2
1 Corinthians 10:12-13
So if you think you are standing, watch out that you do not fall. No testing has overtaken you that is not common to everyone. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it.
Yesterday Pastor Paul continued a sermon series called, “Twisted Scriptures” by looking at the phrase, “God won’t give me more than I can handle.” He shared many reasons why this phrase is not consistent with the teachings of the Scripture and not consistent our own understanding of God.
The phrase is often thought of as coming from these verses in 1 Corinthians. The thought is that God will not test each of us beyond our own strength.
However, this interpretation is not consistent with the passage. Another way to translate the word, “testing” is “temptation.” Not that God gives people temptations. Instead, God always offers us a way out of temptation.
Jesus understands temptation as he himself was tempted at the start of his ministry.
The good news of these verses is not the truth of this twisted phrase. Instead, the good news is God has given us the resources to resist temptation.
Resources that can help us resist temptation are our own faith practices—worship, prayer, serving others, and reading the Scriptures.
Have you found some resources that help you with temptation? Please share.
Tuesday, June 3
Psalm 23
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures;
he leads me beside still waters;
he restores my soul.
He leads me in right paths
for his name’s sake.
Even though I walk through the darkest valley,
I fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord
my whole life long.
This Psalm is probably the best-known Psalm of the 150 Psalms that are in the Bible.
The first part of the Psalm is beautiful. As the Good Shepherd, God helps us lie down and rest in green pastures, God leads us beside still waters, God restores our souls when we need this.
The Psalm pivots in verse 4 with the two words, “Even though.” “Even though” we have these beautiful experiences, each of us will still go through difficult, hard and challenging times.
This is not a surprise to any of us. All of us have experienced suffering or been close to family or friends who have suffered in ways that don’t seem fair or just.
“Even though” we go through these times, God is still with us.
God doesn’t cause these hard things to happen. God doesn’t give us these “even though” experiences. However, God is present and helping us on this difficult journey. As Pastor Paul has said in the past, “God is not the cause of our pain, but the source of our healing.”
What are your thoughts about verse four of this Psalm? Please share.
Wednesday, June 4
Genesis 3:1-7
Now the serpent was more crafty than any other wild animal that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God say, ‘You shall not eat from any tree in the garden’?” The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden, nor shall you touch it, or you shall die.’” But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not die, for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food and that it was a delight to the eyes and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked, and they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves.
One of the theological ideas that the phrase, “God won’t give me more than I can handle” is free will. Does God cause everything to happen in our lives? Are all our situations caused by God? Do we as humans have free will?
This story reinforces the concept of free will. The man and the woman had the freedom to choose to eat the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden. Even though God told them not to eat the fruit of this tree, and even though the two knew that it was wrong to eat the fruit of this tree, the two people still ate this fruit. God didn’t cause this to happen or give the situation to the two people. The people had the freedom to make their own decisions.
God wasn’t responsible. The two—who historically are known as Adam and Eve—were responsible.
God gives us the freedom to make decisions. Sometimes these decisions are counter to what god wants.
What are your thoughts about free will? Please share.
Thursday, June 5
John 11:28-37
When she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary and told her privately, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” And when she heard it, she got up quickly and went to him. Now Jesus had not yet come to the village but was still at the place where Martha had met him. The Jews who were with her in the house consoling her saw Mary get up quickly and go out. They followed her because they thought that she was going to the tomb to weep there. When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” When Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. He said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” Jesus began to weep. So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?”
These verses are part of a longer story about Lazarus. If you have extra time today, read the whole story—John 11:1-44.
Something terrible had happened. Lazarus had died. Martha was upset that Jesus hadn’t arrived earlier to prevent the death of Lazarus. “Lord if you have been here my brother would not have died.” John 11:21
Jesus could have gotten into a theological conversation with Martha about who was responsible for the death of Lazarus. But he responded in a much more powerful way. He shared compassion through his tears. Jesus was very sad about what had happened.
When someone is suffering most of the time the person or people are not looking for a conversation about who is responsible. Instead they need people who will share compassion. People who will weep at the sadness of what has happened.
Have you had the opportunity to walk closely alongside someone was or is suffering? Please share.
Friday, June 6
Romans 7:14-20
For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold into slavery under sin. I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree that the law is good. But in fact it is no longer I who do it but sin that dwells within me. For I know that the good does not dwell within me, that is, in my flesh. For the desire to do the good lies close at hand, but not the ability. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it but sin that dwells within me.
One of the assumptions of the phrase, “God won’t give me more than I can handle” is that we as humans can handle everything.
Unfortunately this is not true. Humans cannot handle everything.
On Sunday Pastor Paul shared in his sermon that every hour eleven people die by suicide. This tragedy reveals that not all of the time can people manage or handle their lives. People choose to leave life by intentionally dying.
This is sad and tragic.
In this passage the Apostle Paul was sharing that often people will do things that they don’t want or intend to do. His words share that humans can’t handle everything.
What are your thoughts about this passage? Please share.
Saturday, June 7
Psalm 13:1-4
How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
How long must I bear pain in my soul
and have sorrow in my heart all day long?
How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?
Consider and answer me, O Lord my God!
Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep the sleep of death,
and my enemy will say, “I have prevailed”;
my foes will rejoice because I am shaken.
The writer of this Psalm was upset with God for God’s silence.
“How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?” Psalm 13:1
The sense of God’s absence is a refutation of the phrase “God won’t give me more than I can handle.” The perceived absence of God is exceedingly hard for us to handle. In many cases and the writer of this Psalm is intimating that we cannot handle the absence of God.
We are not weak if we cannot handle something. Instead our lack of ability to handle something is a reflection of our humanity. This is not a lack of strength, it’s a reflection of humanity. We need not hide from others this reflection of our own humanity. Instead, it’s important to be authentic.
What are your thoughts about this devotion? Please share.