Two weeks ago, while vacationing in the Florida Keys, I read Kisses from Katie, a memoir written by a woman who, when she graduated from high school, moved to Uganda, launched an education and hunger mission and adopted 14 orphan girls – all before she turned twenty.
That’s right, I read Kisses from Katie while lolling on the beach, eating Key Lime Pie and sipping margaritas. The gross irony was not lost on me.
Anyway, Katie made a number of hugely compelling statements in that book, including this:
“I believe that God totally, absolutely intentionally gives us more than we can handle. Because this is how we surrender to Him and He takes over, proving Himself by doing the impossible in our lives.”
Truthfully, I’ve always bought into the adage, “God never gives you more than you can handle.” But now, I’m beginning to wonder if Katie Davis is right.
With only a single cover-to-cover read-through of the Bible under my belt, I can tell you this with certainty: the Bible is radical. Jesus is super radical. And he expects us to be radical, too. Not necessarily move-to-Uganda-and-adopt-14-orphans radical. But radical nonetheless. There’s simply no getting around it. You can’t read the Bible without feeling compelled to do something for the least of these. And if you can, I say you need to go back and read it again.
I’ve been feeling something lately, a movement underfoot, a sense that God wants me to do something big. As Brad said, when I mentioned I’d been feeling a Holy Spirit push, “That’s a little scary.” I agree. It is scary. Because frankly, I don’t want the Holy Spirit to ask me to do something that makes me uncomfortable. I don’t want the Holy Spirit to give me more than I can handle. Sometimes just getting my people off to school with their backpacks and lunch bags and their shoes tied feels like more than I can handle. But I suspect the Holy Spirit has something bigger in mind.
I already wrote about the story in Luke 5 a couple of weeks ago, and it just so happens that we read that very story yesterday in church, which meant I had to write about it again for this post. I wasn’t sure I’d have anything else to say. But I was wrong. It seems that story – especially the part about Simon Peter, James and John dropping their nets, pulling their boats onto the beach and following Jesus – reminds me of Katie Davis, which reminds me that Holy Spirit has something big for me to do.
Leaving their entire livelihood to follow Jesus seems beyond what an ordinary person could handle. But that’s exactly what the ordinary disciples did. And it’s what ordinary Katie Davis did, too. I’m sure they were afraid. I’m sure they wondered if they were making the right decision. I’m sure they felt like the whole thing was a bit much. But they did it anyway.
I don’t know what my “something big” is yet. Honestly, I’ve been avoiding asking God about it. But I have a feeling he’s going to tell me anyway. And along with it, he has this to say:
“There is nothing to fear.” (Luke 5:10) So for now, I’m clinging to that.
Do you believe, like Katie Davis states, that God intentionally gives us more than we can handle? How does that make you feel?
Joining with Ann Voskamp for Her Walk with Him Wednesday series. She’s writing about Radical: Right Where You Are (and she wrote about Katie Davis and Kisses for Katie, too — how ’bout that?!)
Welcome to the “Hear It on Sunday, Use It on Monday” community, a place where we share what we are hearing from God and his Word.
If you’re here for the first time, click here for more information. Please include the Hear It, Use It button (grab the code below) or a link in your post, so your readers know where to find the community if they want to join in — thank you!
Please also try to visit and leave some friendly encouragement in the comment box of at least one other Hear It, Use It participant. And if you want to tweet about the community, please use the #HearItUseIt hashtag.
Thank you — I am so grateful that you are here!
<a border=”0″ href=”https://michellederusha.com/” target=”_blank”> <img src=”http://i867.photobucket.com/albums/ab239/mderusha/HearItUseItImage-1.jpg”/></a>
Click here to get posts in your email in-box. Click here to “like” my Facebook Writer page. Thank you!
