Ever ask yourself, “How much more can I take?”
Ever feel completely overwhelmed? Like the waves are about to go over your head? Like you’re sinking under the weight of all the stress, all the trouble, all the anxiety, all the distress? I’m not going to lie….I’ve been there a time or two in my life. That place of stress and distress is definitely not a destination I like to frequent. But the good news? We don’t have to go there at all…ever! Because, as Bob Dylan once said, we just have to change our way of thinking!
The how much more can I take? mental trap is really all about perspective….because, at its core, it’s all about self. How much more can I take? Notice the emphasis on the “I”…the self. Because the self is the problem. It is that part of the equation that is fatally flawed, eternally hopeless, forever a mess….Until Christ, of course.
When I catch myself saying “How much more can I take?”….when I catch myself falling into that trap, I am simply focusing on myself and the negative circumstances that are arrayed against me. The negatives I can see with my eyes. The negatives I can hear with my ears. The negatives I can touch with my hands. You know the ones. The financial struggles. The health problems. The relational difficulties. I am NOT focusing on the truth I can know with my heart. I am NOT focusing on God or His word or His promises.
But when the Bible says How much more, those instances focus on God. They focus on what God can do….what God is willing to do….what God has already done. Let me show you. Jesus says in Matthew, “how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him! (7:11). Jesus says in Luke, “how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!” (11:13). Later in Luke, Jesus says, “Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap, which have neither storehouse nor barn; and God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds?…If then God so clothes the grass, which today is in the field and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will He clothe you, O you of little faith? (12:24,28). And finally, the writer of Hebrews says, “how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?“(9:14). HOW MUCH MORE!
Do you see it? It’s that whole shift in perspective thing. That shift in thinking. It’s taking all those negatives we can see and hear and feel, our physical pains, our emotional stress and anxiety, our financial problems…all of it….and realizing that it’s NOT how much more can I?…it’s HOW MUCH MORE CAN GOD! It’s saying, “How much more of Your goodness can I take, Lord?” Of Your mercy? Of Your blessings? Of Your provision? Of Your peace? Of Your direction? Of You? Because that’s what He’s offering. That’s what He has made available to us.
Because that’s the way God gives. That’s HOW MUCH MORE! Pressed down, shaken together, and running over (Luke 6:38). Can you picture yourself as overflowing with the goodness of God? OVERFLOWING! And here is the amazing part- that overflow is for others. The filling is for me. The how much more part…the “pressed down and shaken together” part? All for me. But the “running over” part? The overflow part? That part is for others. Isn’t that incredible? God meets us right there, in the middle of our mess, and He gives us SO MUCH MORE! Not because He’s wasteful. Not so we can just stand around with a puddle of blessings at our feet. But so we can turn around and bless others with the overflow! Truly, “such knowledge is too wonderful for me” (Psalm 139:6). I cannot begin to understand it!
So…if stress and anxiety seem to be your portion today, pray for God‘s peace. Ask him to fill you with His peace. Pressed down and shaken together, so that you cannot hold anymore. Pray for peace that’s running over. For overflow. Then ask God to show you who needs that overflow of peace.
If lack seems to be your portion today, pray for God’s provision. Ask Him to provide what you need. Pressed down and shaken together, so that you cannot hold anymore. Pray for provision that is running over. For overflow. Then ask God to show you where that overflow of provision needs to go.
If sorrow and distress seem to be your portion today, pray for God’s comfort. Ask Him to comfort you in your distress. Pressed down and shaken together, so that you cannot hold anymore. Pray for comfort that is running over. For overflow. Then ask God to show you who needs that overflow of comfort.
Think about it. There is nothing that you or I need in this world that God can’t provide…in SO MUCH MORE proportions! He has so much more than I need…than you need. SO MUCH MORE! And that’s where overflow happens….which is one of the most awesome truths about God…one of the things that I love the most about Him. Yes, He can minister to me in my need. Yes, He can bless me more than I can ask or think. Yes, He has more than enough. And the greatest yes of all? He blesses me so that I can bless others. And then those others can bless others. And on and on….That is the love of God.
So, as you spend time with the Lord today, pray about these things. Thank God for His blessings. Thank Him for the so much more that He has poured into your life. Thank Him for the overflow. But then, ask God to help you take your eyes off of yourself and your needs. Ask Him to help you to see and to meet the needs of others, to be the so much more that someone else needs. And then go out and show someone else the love of Christ. I promise, you will not regret it!