When Troubles Pile On

Sometimes 1 Corinthians 10:13 really bugs me.  

Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada and you know that verse well. It goes, “The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. For when you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.”  

Well, there have been times in my life, even recently, when it’s, oh, I don’t know, it’s late at night, I’m wide awake, I’m in bed, I’m in pain and I’m thinking, “God, you promise you will not give me a cross that’s so heavy that your grace can’t help me handle it. But right now? I am having a very hard time believing that. Does anybody out there have it this bad? Paralyzed and in pain like this?” Okay, okay, I realize there are, indeed, people who are hurting worse than I am, but at 2:00 a.m., I’m prone to think that God could not expect from me what he does from others. Like you, I think that mine is a “different story.” I used to think this way back when I was first injured and lying on my hospital bed. Back then, I did not have the history with God’s Word that I do now, and I used to ask him, “God, how can you be putting me through all this? It’s more than I can bear, even with your help!” 

The truth is, my story’s not different. And neither is yours. Charles Spurgeon once said – get this, he said: “You may think…that you have been tried more than others; but it is only your [lack] of knowledge of the trials of others which leads you to imagine that your own are unique. There are many others, besides yourself, in the furnace, and [in a part of it that is a lot hotter than the place where you are].” Yep, Spurgeon nails it there. ’Cause my friend Debbie, she’s a paraplegic – her ex-boyfriend shot her in a rage many years ago. And anyway, Debbie suffers with intractable pain, and right now she’s recovering from her third major back surgery. And I think I’ve got it bad? Oh, my goodness; no way! My decades of quadriplegia have not earned me any Purple Heart medals with God. My bouts with pressure sores and lung problems have not exempted me from 1 Corinthians 10:13. If the Lord allows crushing hardships to pile on top of all the other baggage that goes with being disabled, I cannot whine. It never can be said of me, “Oh, she’s got good reason to let off steam every now and then.” I think of Debbie and all that she is going through. 

Besides, whenever I do entertain stubborn, stiff-necked thoughts of, you know, resentment, I’ve noticed it doesn’t push me forward; it pushes me backward. The problems are not then easier to handle; they become harder. I’ve got to remember Hebrews 12 where it warns complainers, “In your struggle against sin, [look] you haven’t resisted to the point of shedding your blood.” What a good reminder! In other words, I’m not a martyr; nobody’s drawn and quartered me; nobody’s laid me on a rack and sawed me asunder, or run me through with a sword. So you know what? Things aren’t that bad. Any day when you are not in hell is a very good day. 

You know, we’re barely scratching the surface on this topic. Come on, I invite you to go deeper; come to joniradio.org and ask for your free copy of my booklet “God’s Hand in Hardship.” The insights and the Bible verses will really round out this issue in a wonderful way; a way that’ll strengthen your trust in God. So ask for my booklet today at joniradio.org. And finally, 1 Corinthians 10:13 may bug you, but remember, no trial, no cross has been laid on your shoulder that it’s so big and heavy that God’s grace can’t see you through. God’s grace does and will. Trust him with that. And I’ll see you later at joniradio.org.

© Joni and Friends