God dishes out no more than you can take

[Mike.357]

I have heard that over my lifetime from many people, I read it here from time to time.

How do I know when enough has been dished out and it is more than I can take?

( ps: I am asking a serious question)

[Guest jackdm3]

For some reason, Kim Mitchell came to mind with his song, "Go for a soda." Meaning let it go and get out.

YouTube - Kim Mitchell - Go For Soda

Might as well go for a soda...Nobody hurts and nobody cries

Might as well go for a soda...Nobody drowns and nobody dies

So we're in one of our blue moods

You wanna have it your way and I want it mine

All this debating going 'round in our blue mood

Makes me thirst for love

Chorus:

Might as well go for a soda...Nobody hurts and nobody cries

Might as well go for a soda...Nobody drowns and nobody dies

Life seems to be a bomb inside your head

Well the bomb in my head is love

All this debating going 'round in our blue mood

Makes me thirsty for love

Chorus:

Might as well go for a soda...Nobody hurts and nobody cries

Might as well go for a soda...Nobody drowns and nobody dies

Might as well go for a soda...It's better than slander

It's better than lies

Might as well go for a soda...Nobody hurts and nobody cries

Edited May 19, 2010 by jackdm3

[molonlabetn]

I really don't know Mike. But I believe that nobody can know that a situation won't get better if you keep moving and hope to leave the worst behind... So I can't see a reason to give up, and it's only more than you can take if you give up.

Don't give up.

[SpartaTN]

Until we went through losing 3 babies over the last couple years, two pretty far along and one full term, I can honestly say we had no concept of God's love for us. It was hard for us to put into words what we had come to understand until we saw this clip from Voddie Baucham.

Edited May 19, 2010 by SpartaTN

[Guest Jamie]

I have heard that over my lifetime from many people, I read it here from time to time.

How do I know when enough has been dished out and it is more than I can take?

( ps: I am asking a serious question)

My guess is, if you survive it then it's not more than you can take.

Having said that though, I have a fair number of relatives that put a bullet through their own heads, so I doubt the accuracy of that particular statement.

But then, I doubt a whole lot of things. Or at very least question them.

J.

[Oh Shoot]

Well, with the rate of suicide what it is, from teens to seniors, I see it as a catch phrase for churches.

Best to keep you kicking, no matter what, to get your tithe.

- OS

[Guest SUNTZU]

I have heard that over my lifetime from many people, I read it here from time to time.

How do I know when enough has been dished out and it is more than I can take?

( ps: I am asking a serious question)

My viewpoint. When life starts making you ask questions like this, I refer to what is in my sig line. I'll send you the video, as it is against the COC. I don't think a higher power dishes out anything, I think its just life. A higher power's thoughts, actions, or plans probably can't be fathomed by us simple lifeforms. We have reason of our own, but I think it would be difficult to assume to know what a god, God's, or a higher powers thoughts are. I don't think that a higher power cares what you do. I don't care what an ant does, and the ant can tell I'm there, so that analogy doesn't really do it justice, either.

I do the best I can with what I have till I'm snuffed out. I refuse to do the snuffing on my own. Southerners seem to always be fighting against long odds. If something gets to be too big for one person, then you lean on another. Going for that beer with your friends is what that is for. Speaking of which....

I know that there are a lot on this board who feel otherwise. I'm okay with that. A man's personal beliefs are just that, personal. I reckon it will be made clear to me whether or not I'm wrong...when I'm dead and buried. I don't fret about it too much. You can hightail it to better climes or sit there and wait for better times. I'll send you that video now, be thinking about that beer.

[G27]

Mike, it comes from 1 Corinthians 10:13: "No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it."

The implication based on scripture is not that God won't allow things to be more than you alone can bear, but rather that with the strength of the Lord through Christ, you'll be able to bear all things in life.

[Links2k]

Well, with the rate of suicide what it is, from teens to seniors, I see it as a catch phrase for churches.

Best to keep you kicking, no matter what, to get your tithe.

- OS

Preach!

[Smith]

It's just not true. God will often allow far more than we can handle. It is then when/if we turn to him to confirm his promise to carry us through anything that we finally see his grace in the light of our circumstances. It was Paul who prayed for God to remove the "thorn" from his side. God's response after a period of silence was that he would not remove the "thorn", but rather give him the grace to endure anything.

I never fully understood that till we lost our second child. It was several years later that we had several friends in succession (my brother included) that we were able to help through the same circumstances. Wasn't easy, but it made me grateful to be able to share and understand with these couples and not just throw out platitudes and generic "grace".

In 2 Corinthians Paul starts off telling us that he God allows us to go through things so that we may be comforted in order that we may comfort those who don't have anything to turn to. In other words God has designed it that the strong suffer in order to help the weaker make it through. This is why bad things happen to good people. Who will help the helpless if we have never been there before.

OS, unfortunately it may appear that way in many circumstances and for that I'm truly sorry.I also agree that it has become a common catch phrase with little understanding of the application. That is what happens sometimes when man puts his desires before the desire of God the father. However, there are many who blow that stereotype out of the water. Don't let the ugly blind you to the truth.

[trblmkr13]

I think everyone feels like they have more then they can handle at times in life and people need to lean on there family, religion or whatever to get them through it I hope you have that support system Mike to get you through you trying time.

[Guest Tiny G]

I have heard that over my lifetime from many people, I read it here from time to time.

How do I know when enough has been dished out and it is more than I can take?

( ps: I am asking a serious question)

If you are a Christian:

When you are compelled to go to God for help, to turn over your problems to Him and more importantly ask for His comfort and guidance, then that's about as much as you can take.

The Atonement of Jesus Christ not only paid the price for sin but also all pain, sickness, and strife. Ask God, in humble and sincere prayer, for the comfort promised through that Atonement. Then do everything in your power to be worthy of that blessing.

Life is about the journey, about the lessons that can only be learned here that will carry us through eternity. Now is the time to learn, to do, to love, to experience pain and loss, and to grow.

Nothing worth doing is easy. But you're not alone.

[Guest jackdm3]

And if he's not a Christian? What do you offer?

[Guest Jamie]

The implication based on scripture is not that God won't allow things to be more than you alone can bear, but rather that with the strength of the Lord through Christ, you'll be able to bear all things in life.

Hmm... That makes me think that god and politicians have a little too much in common; both are willing to intentionally put you in a position that requires you to turn to them for help.

I dunno about y'all, but that just makes me want to do serious bodily harm to the one doing that to me, or allowing it to happen, not turn to 'em for help.

J.

[G27]

Hmm... That makes me think that god and politicians have a little too much in common; both are willing to intentionally put you in a position that requires you to turn to them for help.

I dunno about y'all, but that just makes me want to do serious bodily harm to the one doing that to me, or allowing it to happen, not turn to 'em for help.

Do you have kids? If so, stop and think about it for a second. Some times we as parents allow things to happen to our children in order to teach them things. Within reason it's a very effective way to show us that, as humans, our desire for independence can be a weakness.

[Guest jackdm3]

Mike, I remember the last time you mentioned despair. It was the departure of your grandkids. Many grandfolks find themselves moving towards the children regardless of the practicality of this. Would leaving us be good for you?

[Guest Jamie]

If so, stop and think about it for a second.

A second? Crimson, I've spent most of my life watching, listening, and thinking about it.

I didn't arrive at the conclusions I have without many years of thought going into them.

J.

[molonlabetn]

Hmm... That makes me think that god and politicians have a little too much in common; both are willing to intentionally put you in a position that requires you to turn to them for help.

I dunno about y'all, but that just makes me want to do serious bodily harm to the one doing that to me, or allowing it to happen, not turn to 'em for help.

J.

That's one way to look at it...

I guess my point of view is that humans, as a race, declared independance from God when we took on the "knowledge of good and evil". With the freedom to make choices, independantly and collectively over so many generations, comes the responsibility for why the majority of things go wrong, or at least the consequence of being unconditionally protected from them by an omnipotent higher being... that doesn't mean to say everyone deserves or caused the bad things that happen to them. It's simply a result of the culture, the randomness of 5+ Billion individuals' actions, and the hazardous universe that we insignificant, frail beings scrape out our existence in. Action & consequence, even when the action wasn't our own. Life isn't fair. If anything life is a lesson in how imperfect we are, so that we can appreciate perfection when we see it.

The other difference is that the government wants us to need them, for their own satisfaction and career... whereas God wants us to need him out of love (much like a father wants his kids to need him... while sacrificing for them, and painfully watching them make their mistakes)... no 'tribute' is required other than love in return.

[strickj]

Do you have kids? If so, stop and think about it for a second. Some times we as parents allow things to happen to our children in order to teach them things. Within reason it's a very effective way to show us that, as humans, our desire for independence can be a weakness.

There are no lessons with what I am going through and have been through in my life.

There are no lessons in what my mother went through in the last few years of her life.

If God is at fault for her pain and misery and if he is at fault for my pain and misery, then he is not a very good god.

I believe in God, but not the bible.

I am living proof the bible is untrue.

I can point you to many more examples....

Edited May 19, 2010 by strickj

[Guest Tiny G]

And if he's not a Christian? What do you offer?

A good book.

[Guest Jamie]

...the government wants us to need them, for their own satisfaction and career... whereas God wants us to need him out of love (much like a father wants his kids to need him... while sacrificing for them, and painfully watching them make their mistakes)... no 'tribute' is required other than love in return.

In both cases, it's the "want" of both entities that are the main consideration, no?

As for the "sacrificing for them", I don't see it. What's the cost to god? If he really is all-powerful, then there likely is none.

Anyway... enough of this. It's an un-winnable debate, from either side.

Mike, if there's something any of us can do, please speak up.

J.

[Guest Tiny G]

Hmm... That makes me think that god and politicians have a little too much in common; both are willing to intentionally put you in a position that requires you to turn to them for help.

I dunno about y'all, but that just makes me want to do serious bodily harm to the one doing that to me, or allowing it to happen, not turn to 'em for help.

J.

You don't have to choose to be humble, but in my experience there are times when it's necessary to survive.

[Guest Jamie]

A good book.

What if he's not into fiction?

J.

[Guest Tiny G]

see previous answer

[Smith]

Guys. He seems to be asking for help and some want to take this opportunity to impune God, ect. If you have a personal agenda against God, fine work it out with him. Otherwise why take what hope some have, so they can share in YOUR misery and hurt. The God I know takes it away if you are willing to let it go. Mike if you need anything you know where to find me and others who are willing.