How Life is Like a Truck-Part 8
By: Tom Wolff
My wife and I have owned a travel trailer for a few years now. There is a lot to learn. Not only about the operations of the trailer but about packing to go. It seems like it should be an easy thing to figure out, but it is actually a ridiculous thing to figure out. Every. Time.
Usually, I have a ton of stuff in the trailer and the truck. Once I’m fully packed and ready, my wife will emerge from the house with a couple more bags and an excited comment like, “This is everything!” I’m never sure what to make of said comment – Do you mean this is everything we are taking or do you mean the house is now empty?
I have learned to keep my mouth shut and have found if I squeeze and squish, push and pull, there is always room for the final two or three bags. Still, at the end of the day, we are both fully aware that we can only take so much stuff, so we continue to work on our packing ‘system.’
There is a national weight limit for tractor-trailers of 80,000 lbs. with few exceptions. One of those exceptions applies to farmers who qualify for a special permit which allows them a gross weight limit of 95,000 lbs.! How much more can I take? Zero more – This is an extraordinary amount of weight. I am allowed 15,000 additional pounds of freight but no additional brakes to slow it down.
Driving a grain truck for four years caused me to become very aware of the dangers of exceeding ‘all I can take’. It also caused me to ditch my ‘once-in-a-while’ road rage. I have many times been very thankful for a grace-filled God who showed me how to lay down my anger. Now I pray instead – a lot.
I find that I have limits just like my truck does. Over the past few years, especially since COVID, I have encountered many folks in my counseling office who have cried out in exhaustion and frustration, “I don’t know how much more I can take!” I often wonder the same thing. Our enemy seems to be the master of piling on. Just when we think we have nothing more to give, the car breaks down, or the washing machine quits. We don’t have any kind of built-in scale that tells us that we have reached the maximum load limit and we need a long nap in order to reset. I laugh when people say, “God will never give you more than you can handle.” Seriously? My reading of the Bible informs me that God will always give us more than we can handle.
But My righteous one shall live by faith; and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him. (Heb 10:38)
You see, God wants us to need Him. He delights in ‘showing up’ for His children. The reality is that when I can handle whatever comes my way, I’m not walking by faith, I’m walking in my own power and understanding. God becomes our “in case of emergency, try prayer” rather than, “we walk by faith and not by sight.” We are designed to know God and walk through our lives trusting Him. I grow in that understanding only as God allows me to experience situations that are beyond my ability to handle or control. That’s where faith comes in – that’s where it’s tested – and that’s where God proves His sufficiency. He will either show up in some unexpected answer or increase our capacity to endure the circumstances. Sometimes He does both. In either case, He wants us to grow in our understanding and dependency on His goodness and faithfulness. That is what faith is – without testing we will never know if we truly trust Him.
Are you struggling with an issue or condition that seems to have no end? Have you already cried out, “Lord, how much can I take?” God hasn’t promised us an easy life. He has promised us that He will never leave us or forsake us. I encourage you to continue to trust Him. He will not leave you. He will see you through to the end of every trial.
“It’s impossible to please God apart from faith. And why? Because anyone who wants to approach God must believe both that He exists and that He cares enough to respond to those who seek Him.” Hebrews 11:6 (The Message)