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But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us (2 Corinthians 4:7).
My friend Mable used to be part of the disappointed and discouraged crowd. She was an overworked, over-challenged, overwhelmed single mom. She lived in a world where she never seemed to get on top of things. Initially, her tenacious grit compelled her to try harder. She bought into the culture’s worldview of independence and self-reliance. She determined never to lose and never give up. It was a win-win at all costs, and no matter how difficult things became, her mantra was, “When things get tough, the tough get going.” Her perspective worked well until her meltdowns outnumbered her victories. Finally, her boss called her in and gave her an ultimatum—no more outbursts. She freaked.
Rather than seeking God, she gave herself over to fear and worry, which eventually turned into bitterness and compounded anxiety. Then the depression came calling. Mable’s internal turmoil put her between a rock and a hard place—to the point where she thought about suicide. She considered counseling in a last-ditch effort to pull herself out of her funk. After listening to her story of woe for nearly an hour, I said, “God is calling you to do what you cannot do with the ability you do not have.” She gave me a quizzical look, which I followed with, “He wants it this way. What you’re going through is the will of God for your life. God wants to bring you to a place where you cannot fix yourself or your life because His desire is for you to rely on Him.”
For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead (2 Corinthians 1:8–9).
A suffering-sending God was mysteriously complex for her to hear initially. She was embarrassed about not being able to do it all by herself. Everything that could go wrong was going wrong, and no matter how hard Mable tried to keep it all together, it was unraveling even faster. Her response was to internalize her problems, never utter a word, and redouble her efforts, but her plan was not working. She could not keep up anymore. She was done.
Sometimes life is meant to go wrong because it is the only way God can get our attention. He had Mable’s attention now. She was crying out for help. A plea for help, out of a heart of genuine brokenness, is the prayer He was leading her to repeat back to Him. Mable had to come to the place where we all should come. She said the quiet part aloud: “I am not self-reliant.” God never intended for us to win all the time. Sometimes God has to run us into a ditch to free us from ourselves. The self-sufficient person does not need God. It is a deceptive and tempting approach to life that does not work. Paul was right: “I can do all things through him who strengthens me,” not through me who strengthens me (Philippians 4:13).
To say, “I can do all things through me who strengthens me,” is a worship disorder of the worst kind. It is not God’s intention to let us do things our way, according to our agenda, while working within our personal gifting and well-honed skillset (Genesis 11:6). It can never be win-win all the time for all people, with or without God. He is too merciful to allow this to happen to His fallen creation. He insists we do things according to His will while He receives glory for what He accomplishes through us (Romans 11:36; Philippians 2:12–13). The implication is clear: there will be times when God will accomplish things outside our abilities.
We need to understand this. We are to work under His power and strength rather than our own. Part of this is because people are “glory hogs.” Isn’t it true that we love praise and adoration? We desire to be like a god (Genesis 3:5), which is at the heart of our self-reliant, Adamic fallenness problem. This kind of self-centered thinking puts us in competition with God, as well as with others. We demand our way; God requires His way. Guess who is going to win that tug-of-war? To help us get over ourselves, the Lord mercifully puts us in places or situations where we cannot control or manipulate the outcomes, which happened to Mable. She had two choices:
She could stubbornly press on to her shame and other people’s hurt. She could relinquish her rights to her situation and trust God’s way—even if it did not make sense. Here are a few examples of times when God’s way is challenging to embrace. Will you read over these questions and honestly analyze yourself? Which is easier, to respond in your strength or God’s strength?
Did you know God is regularly testing us by giving us opportunities to trust Him? Typically, these moments happen when we do not want to trust Him or do not understand how to trust Him. In either case, He is asking us to do what we may not be willing to do or not have the wisdom, insight, clarity, or knowledge to do. When the Lord came upon 5,000 people (not counting the women or the children) who were hungry and needing food, it was not within the disciple’s ability to feed them.
But Jesus said, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” They told him, “We have only five loaves here and two fish.” And he said, “Bring them here to me.” Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass, and taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing. Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds (Matthew 14:16–19).
At that moment, they were working outside of their collective strengths. At that moment, Jesus had them right where He wanted them. The perfect sweet spot with the Lord is when we have to trust Him rather than ourselves. God calls us to walk by faith, not our strength, cleverness, or insights. The disciples knew there was not enough bread and fish to feed 5,000 people. They were right. There was not enough provision to get the job done. Though they could not see past the bread in their baskets, Jesus could. But the story gets better.
Christ made what the disciples could not make, and He used the disciples to distribute what He made. He stepped up and created when their hands were unable. How kind of the Lord. He creates what we cannot and chooses to use us despite our complaining and negativity. Can you imagine complaining to the Lord because you have assessed the situation and determined the job is too big, complex, or complicated? Then He comes through by doing the impossible. There have been many instances in my life where I assessed the situation and my abilities and resources to fix the situation and promptly concluded the problems were too big or complicated to repair. Then the Lord did the unexpected. He provided. He accomplished, but He did not stop there.
Like the disciples in His day, He allowed me to be part of the process of helping those with whom I was previously lodging my complaints. God wants a relationship with me, but it cannot be what it needs to be until I am willing to trust Him to do what I cannot do. I must genuinely come to the end of myself (Luke 15:17). What about you? Are you in a situation with seemingly no good way out of the mess? I’m asking, are you stuck? Are you working outside your ability, hoping to repair your problems? Working outside of your ability is not a bad thing. Sometimes it is the only right thing. It happens to me every day. I am confronted daily with people and situations that I cannot fix.
Then I realize that changing people is outside the scope of my responsibilities. It is a pay grade well above mine. Being unable to fix people kept me awake at night at the beginning of my counseling career. Then I learned that if I could succeed in the “people fixing business,” I would not need God. The Lord kindly reminded me that there was a Savior, and I was not Him. He helped me to repent of my self-reliant thinking while turning to Him for solutions. Today, my job is much simpler than fixing people; I point them to Jesus. Like John the Baptist, I am a signpost. When people come to me for help, I point them to Christ. I have taken up John’s mantra, “He must increase, and I must decrease” (John 3:30).
When you come to a place that does not make sense or you cannot figure it out, may I suggest something? How about if you recalibrate your thinking around the gospel? There is nothing like the gospel narrative to bring clarity to our challenges. Imagine standing at the foot of Golgotha on the day they crucified the Savior. The disciples were the same friends who appealed to Christ to take over the Roman world. But there they stood, watching their friend die at the hands of the Romans. It seemed so wrong that He would die. It was all backward to them.
The disciples felt that way on the day their friend died. Watching Christ die pushed them outside the bounds of their human understanding. They wanted, expected, and demanded a king. They were confused, hopeless, angry, and in despair as they saw all their dreams dying on a cross. The most likely candidate to succeed was now bleeding and dying on a cruel cross. They were baffled. Peter had his sword drawn only a few hours earlier and was ready to carve up a victory for Jesus. Now he is looking at King Jesus bleeding to death.
That story is similar to yours: God is always up to something better than you think. It appeared the Romans murdered the Savior, but actually, His Father executed Him (Isaiah 53:10). Why? Because being a king 2,000 years ago was not nearly as good as being a King in eternity. Initially, the disciples did not perceive this “change of plans.” Can you look back on your life and thank the Lord that He did not give you the desires of your heart at a time when you were asking for something? I am glad that He did not provide the disciples with their wishes.
Unfortunately, we are uncomfortable not being in the know. We do not like living by faith (Romans 14:23). We want to know the outcomes before we begin. We want to see if it will be okay before we move forward. We want to work within our abilities rather than the Lord’s strength. We are no different from the disciples. God is calling you to trust Him—to walk by faith (Matthew 14:31). He will not give you all the answers you desire. If He did explain how it would come to pass, you would return to trusting yourself again. He is calling you to stop trusting yourself. Nothing will clarify this faith tension like the gospel story—of Christ dying on the cross. That story needs to inform your thinking rather than your wits. Whose story are you living?
The disciples wanted to live for their story. God had another story in mind. Even when you do not understand what God is doing in your life, it is humble and wise to thank Him with expressions of gratitude for His leadership in your life. Your gratitude does not mean your life will change a lot or at all. Mable’s life did not change, but her thoughts about God did. She persistently preached the gospel narrative to herself and experienced a calm soul. Through her ordeal, like the disciples, God brought her to an end of herself. Even though she did not know what He was up to, she decided to trust Him, albeit imperfectly.
If God is holding back from you what you desire, I appeal to you to consider the possibility that He has something better for you. Though He may not give you what you want at this moment, whatever He has planned for you will be far better than you could ever imagine (Ephesians 3:20). The best way to begin this kind of reorientation of the mind is to express gratitude to Him for His sovereign care in your life. Giving thanks is the will of God for you (1 Thessalonians 5:18). Begin right now. Make it your moment-by-moment habit. Perhaps a daily list of things you are thankful for would be a good start. As you do this, will you review what I have shared and answer all my questions? You now have your homework assignment.
Rick launched the Life Over Coffee global training network in 2008 to bring hope and help for you and others by creating resources that spark conversations for transformation. His primary responsibilities are resource creation and leadership development, which he does through speaking, writing, podcasting, and educating.
In 1990 he earned a BA in Theology and, in 1991, a BS in Education. In 1993, he received his ordination into Christian ministry, and in 2000 he graduated with an MA in Counseling from The Master’s University. In 2006 he was recognized as a Fellow of the Association of Certified Biblical Counselors (ACBC).