Aided but not carried

Those of us who grew up in youth groups, Christian families, or other similar situations may recall a favorite anecdote that has been over used. The idea that a man is looking back on his life and it looks like a set of footprints going through the sand. And during this time there were two sets – his and God’s but in the hard times there was only one set/ The man looks at God and says “Where were you in those hard times when I needed you most?” God replies “I carried you.”

That is dumb. Sorry, but it is. I really dislike the cheesy anecdotes and this one I have found to be particularly repugnant. Why? Because I don’t think there is anyone who got through hardship without doing a little of it on their own. Sure, maybe I am missing the point of the anecdote, but I think we have to remember that God has endowed us with two very important traits: gifts and limits.

Those two traits, while definitely not the exclusive traits of our beings, have a tendency to define who we are and our relationships with others and God. People with similar gifts tend to flock together – just think of all your stereotypical cliques in high school. Artists, athletes, nerds, and the band kids. Etc. These gifts allow us to cope with difficulty in our lives and to perform or create the wonderful.

It is our limits, though, that I am more interested in. We are all limited and it depends on the situation. Limits are universal – only God is limitless and the rest of us are beyond limited. Usually, we are useless, quite honestly. But it is in our limits that God is able to work in our lives.

The easiest example is the extreme – we are thrown into a situation where we have no control and cannot help but just let God take control. From a family member who is sick to waiting to hear back from a job you have applied for. You cannot make the situation better – it is out of your hands. It just needs to be given to Him.

But it is in the situations where we have some control that I think we tend to deceive ourselves. By having a modicum of control over a situation I know I think I can then influence more than my fair share, if not the entire thing. It is like when you study for a test and you know the material so well you think you know the questions that are going to be asked. You don’t. You may have an idea, and you may be right occasionally, but you don’t. All you can do is use what you have to prepare.

So why do I think that little anecdote about the man on the beach and God is dumb? Because I think God has always expected and asked me to do some of the work in all of the difficult situations I have encountered. I think He has given me the strength, the resources, the wisdom, and all of the other help I needed to get through it but in the end I had to decide to keep moving forward. Look at these three verses, ones that actually equipped me to deal some of the hardest times of my own life:

‘“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”’
Matthew 11:28-30

‘Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.’
James 1:2-4

We are given relief, we are equipped, and we are sustained in the difficult times in our lives. But we are not carried. It is still on us to move forward. But to do so, we have to recognize our limits so that we may have our burdens lifted. Because what greater burden is there than believing you control everything? We are endowed with gifts to cope with our limits so that we can move forward. In the end, it will make us stronger so we may hopefully aid one another as I was.