"'The Lord will fight for you, you need only to be still.'
Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Why are you crying out to me? Tell the people of Israel to move forward!'"
Exodus 14:14-15.
The title of this blog is probably a bit controversial. I'm prepared to explain.
I'm sitting here in yesterday's makeup, stray hairs from my topknot tickling the sides of my face. I just spent the majority of my morning alternating between bending over a calculator and the pile of support letters I'm designing, slurping a cup of coffee that's long since gone cold.
An Elevation Church podcast is playing in the background, and I look up for just a second when I hear Pastor Steven pause to catch his breath, winding up for the sermon's inevitable TKO:
"God will handle the things you can't, but God will not handle the things you can."
I'd be lying if I acted like I was hearing that line for the first time.
In reality (and my dear squad-mates came to know this better than most), I don't really like a wide variety of things.I just like the same things over and over again - be it books, movies, songs, sermons, or Taco Bell's number 5 with a medium Dr. Pepper and a side of sour cream.
There was one night on the Race when I sat at our host home desk, writing and looping Jon Bellion's song Jim Morrison thirteen times before Tabitha politely leaned over and said, "It's a little loud."
And, okay. It's not that I "don't enjoy new experiences". I went on the World Race, man. I feel like that should kinda give me lifetime supply of rebuttals to any thinly-veiled commentary that I'm stuck in my ways (or in my Taco Bell order).
I just really don't like surprises.
There's the time in middle school that I eagerly guessed my little sister's Christmas gift to me, unintentionally making her cry because I'd "ruined my own surprise".
Or the time I actually, legitimately hinted that I wanted a surprise birthday party...and then uncovered all of the plans so I wouldn't be caught off guard by the guest list or the moment when people were gonna jump out and throw confetti in my hair.
God help the poor man who proposes to me one day, trying his darnedest to wife me under the sneaky guise of, "Heeeyyyy, let's just go out to a nice dinner," or "Look at the Jumbotron! Oh, it's on us?! SO CRAZY, right...?"
I doubt this will come as news to anyone, but life is full of surprises. And if you're a lover of God, your life track frequently resembles a Mario Kart racing terrain. Bananas, coins, and vaulted canyons galore. Our level of faith comes into play when we decide how gracefully and faithfully we respond to the challenges set before us.
"God will handle the things you cant, but He will not handle the things you can."
Can I be super brutally honest for just a second? I've struggled the last two days not to just cancel plans, stay at home in my favourite sweatpants, and wallow in a fog of frustration. Why? Oh, I don't know. Surprises. Challenges - some big, some easily overcome. Life. There's so much life that happens off of the couch.
It's easier to just stay here in the neutral zone, milking the "re-entry" excuse and hiding away from the stuff that's hard.
Hard like, I never expected that the family I left last autumn to look completely different when I returned...and I didn't expect to feel shame for that.
I never expected to be on the receiving end of someone else's financial mistakes, and as a result, have to scramble finding ways to take care of myself.
I didn't expect to feel so completely at home in America after leaving it for a whole year. Wasn't it supposed to be the other way around? Wasn't my biggest challenge supposed to be ordering off a menu?!
I'm continually catching myself praying prayers like, "Hey God, can you please give me confirmation that this internship is where you want me....like, really?" As if suddenly, I'm spiritually six years old again, asking my mom to check under my bed just one more time.
Just to be sure.
Why does the $700 I need by September 1st suddenly feel like a way bigger deal than the $16,000 I had to raise last year?
Did God get smaller? Less capable?
What I'm really doing when I pray prayers of confirmation, though, is telling God that His promise isn't enough for me - like Moses in the constantly misquoted verse, Exodus 14:14.
Moses: "God'll handle it, guys! Just sit and wait!"
God: ????
God: "I told you what you needed to do! I've given you the resources! MOVE FORWARD."
Because God doesn't go back on His promises. We might, but that's not really His style.
"I believe. Help my unbelief!"
Belief, even when I don't feel it. Belief, even when the numbers don't add up. Belief, when my spirit fails me and the solution isn't showing itself.
God will handle the things I can't, but He won't handle the things I can.
All He asks of us is that we take that next step, stride after stride, walking in obedience. Always that next step. As far as the road will go, He asks us to take it.
And after we've been faithful with what He's given us, He handles the rest.
If you're struggling with something today, please know you're not alone. I'm right there with you. But promise me one thing: that you won't stay in this spot. Take some time, feel the hurts, and maybe even admit that you don't know what to do right this moment. But afterwards, get up and take a step. And then take another step. All the way to the fridge, and grab yourself a snack. Because snacks help.
Face that thing that's weighing on you, threatening to derail your plans and progress.
And then go out there and handle it.
God will be right there to take care of what you can't.