When you’re going through a difficult time, someone might try to reassure you by saying, “God won’t give you more than you can handle.” But if we’re honest, we all have things we can’t handle alone. The good news is that God never expected us to handle everything on our own, and God helps us when we have more than we can handle.
Everyone wants to be happy, but our attempts to chase happiness often have the opposite effect—they make us miserable. While God delights in our happiness, God also has higher callings for us that are better and more life-giving than happiness alone.
We’ve all heard them—simple sayings that sound nice, but are simply untrue. You may have heard that “Doubting is dangerous.” But doubt is something we all experience, and in fact, doubt can actually help us to grow.
The Christian life isn't something we do in private—it's a public act of living as a citizen of heaven, and it has serious social and community consequences. Being good citizens of the gospel kingdom of Christ demands higher standards for our behavior, and when we live this way, we can enjoy a common life of joy and humility.
We all need a supportive community around us, but a healthy, strong community can be hard to find. The early church in Philippi demonstrates what it looks like when we come together as people partnering together who are generous, content, and loving. By following their example, we can create that same kind of community today.
When we face challenges in the world, what we want is a pain-free solution, ease of life, certainty, and security. What we need, though, is meaningful work, community, and faith that God will take care of us in the ambiguity. When we trust God, love our enemies, and set aside selfish desires, we can be part of the world-changing work that Jesus is dong in the world.
It’s tempting to think of resilience as an individual matter, but we cannot become resilient without relationships. The greater the challenges we face, the more accountability and life-giving relationships we need.
In the midst of chaos, resistance, and loss, we often want certainty about the path forward. Unfortunately, most of the challenges we face can't be solved with easy answers. Instead of seeking certainty, we can grow stronger by practicing self-reflection, learning to become more adaptable, and growing in self-awareness so that we can be transformed as we grow in resilience and character.
We live in a world of anxiety and despair. How do we become resilient and holy (set apart) in a throw-away world of mass production? In a performance-driven world of grades and evaluations, it is possible to leave the chaos and burnout of a performance-based life and embrace the peace and freedom of a grace-based life.
We know that forgiveness is important, but it’s also really hard. There are many reasons we don’t want to forgive others, but forgiving others doesn’t just help them; it helps us, too. The words “I forgive you” can set us free.
