While shopping at the local Aldi the other day, I rounded the corner and was faced with scores of one of my favorite things: storage bins! Aren’t they great? They keep things organized—so neat and tidy, all put together—unlike me. There were big wire baskets for blanket storage, uniform clear bins for bathroom storage, and little bamboo storage bins with lids for kitchen gadgets and gizmos. Some even included labels for the utmost in organizational satisfaction. There is something so nice about having things fit neatly right where they are supposed to go.
When it comes to my mind, I have become adept at mentally storing thoughts in storage bins to deal with later. I then organize my time to sort through them when time permits. There is a lot in there—pallets of stuff! Sometimes I think I need a forklift to get around.
Last night, as I lay in bed and went through my storehouse of mental storage bins, it was too much for me. I had things in my mind that simply could not fit into those bins, so they ended up falling to the floor of my mind in complete disarray.
As I stared at the scattered ruins of shattered dreams, unfulfilled plans, and seemingly impossible hopes, I was reminded of the saying, “God doesn’t give you more than you can handle.” Yet here I was, surrounded by things that I could not handle, lying on the ground all around me.
I had a little conversation with God.
“God, I thought You weren’t going to give me more than I can handle. Over here, I have all these neat little storage bins (okay, some might be a little wonky-looking, but hey, I make it work) filled with things I can handle. But look at all of this on the floor—these many broken pieces that I can’t handle.”
As I tried to clean things up, stuffing back in all of the things that I could not handle, I felt God taking them out of my hands and placing them out of my reach. It was as if He was telling me, “I didn’t give you more than you can handle. All these things on the floor—these shattered dreams—those are for Me to handle, not you. Just leave it there. It’s Mine to handle.”
What a comfort that was to me!
When the Bible tells us in Hebrews 13:5, Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee, God meant it. If it is more than we can handle, that means God has it covered. He will take it from here—if we will just leave it there for Him to handle.
I love this song. What comfort is found in these words:
“Leave it there, leave it there,
Take your burden to the Lord and leave it there.
If you trust him and never doubt, He will surely bring you out.
Take your burden to the Lord leave it there.”
—Charles Albert Tindley (ca. 1906)
God gave me this beautiful reminder last night: When something does not fit in our mental storage bins, or if something seems too big for us to handle, we can simply take that burden to the Lord and leave it there. God will handle it from here!
by Beth Payton
