Life Is Tough

It is important to remember that David did not set out to fight a giant on the day he faced Goliath. I mean, he didn't get up one day and say, "I think I'll go pick a fight with a nine-foot tall warrior." He was simply doing what he was asked to do and the giant-sized opportunity presented itself.

Isn't that the way life happens? We are going along and everything is great and then something takes us by surprise. Something that leaves us overwhelmed and feeling like we can't handle it. If we have bought into the error that God will never give you more than you can handle, we will get frustrated and possibly bitter. Or we may assume that we don't have enough faith, or aren't godly enough.

Going along side the error of God won't give you more than you can handle, is the error that if you do everything right, you won't have any problems and nothing bad will never happen to us. Scripture clearly teaches otherwise. Joseph did the "right" thing and ran from temptation and consequently wound up in jail. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego did the "right" thing and refused to bow before an idol, and as a result they were thrown into the furnace. Job was doing absolutely nothing wrong; in fact, he was called "blameless" and "upright" by God
 Himself. And yet you know what happened. Paul and Silas were told to go to a certain region and preach the gospel, and before the chapter is over, we find them beaten and thrown into prison. Jesus never sinned, yet He was crucified.

Bad things happen to us not because of bad things we've done but because we live in a fallen world. Also, when bad things happen to us we are reminded how utterly dependent we are on and for God.

As one of the members of our congregation often says, "Life is tough, then you die." Begging his apologies, I might change that last phrase in his quip: "Life is touch, but God is greater."