I love your last thoughts. God does allow us to become so overwhelmed that we have nothing else to do, but wait for Him and then stand in awe at what He is doing. That is what keeps me going every. Thank you for sharing, Julie. I share your perspective. God does give us more than we can handle to drive us to him.
1 Samuel 15 MSG - Samuel said to Saul, “GOD sent me to - Bible Gateway
This is called Stockholm Syndrome. Thank you so much for writing this. I literally have cringed everytime. I shared this on my FB page and your blog has literally been shared multiple times off of my page. Thank you for sharing and I am so humbled that it is connecting with so many. It seems to be part of the redemption of the situation. Refreshing post Nate, thank you. We do get more than we can handle, suffering the repercussions of free will — both ours and others. I do feel this overwhelming time opens the door for others to care for us, support us and help us get through.
At 15 I left home, a pawn of an abusive man. It was more than I could handle but I was given the strength to flee and survive. At 17 I got pregnant, I was homeless at the time. It was more than I could handle — but He stepped in with those who helped me reunite with my family and care for my baby and myself again.
After enjoying the blessing of that child, then her sister and brother — she suddenly died 19 years later. In the span of 16 months starting April , I lost my oldest daughter to sleep apnea, my aunt to liver failure, my father to lung disease and my sister to diabetes. It was Absolutely More than I could handle. I have heard that bumper sticker phrase more than I can handle. We are the tools for one another that He has supplied to help us handle the trials of this broken and often painful human life.
My heart goes out to you and everyone posting and reading here. Thank you for your honesty and truth. Thank you for sharing your story. May grace and peace be yours. God does indeed often give us more than we can bear. More than we can handle. But God never will give us more than He can handle. When we are weak,he can come in and be strong for us. Our awful situations, grief and terrible pain are just that: God has been good to walk with us..
So many people need to hear this. On top of dealing with life circumstances that were more than I could handle, my family was being attacked from all angles at once, far more than we could handle. That situation had been building for years, and took years to get through. Some things happen by bad choices, others by sheer spite of other people, and still others just plain happen. As someone who lived with all of those at the same time, I can say, God will certainly let us be pushed beyond our ability to cope.
Today, however, I can say that without breaking the way I did, I would not have what I have in God today. I am a truly different person, from the inside out. The person I was was not capable of having the peace I have today, every day. Denial blocks forward growth and healing. I am so glad that I acknowledged that it was all too much, and there was no strength left in me. I lay like a puddle on the ground, no strength, no shape, no will left to fight. God took me and rebuilt me, changing my foundations and making the me he had always intended me to be.
He continues to heal and change me, and I am fully content to let him do what he wants when he wants. I would still be battling today if I had held on to the belief that I had to handle everything that came my way. Thank you, especially for explaining those two verses and the falseness of that overused platitude. Thank you for sharing that asking why is okay. I just wish I knew how to get to the place of believing and expecting God to act for me, too, not just everyone else.
It would be better if we turned from a doctrine of theodicy to questioning the human actions or inactions which contribute to the problem of evil. Nate, thank you so much for sharing this…. Now that I know the truth, I will be more careful. The examples you used were spot on. I know of people who have come through many trials and tragedies who have developed more solid faith because of what they have been through.
Thank you for opening my eyes, to the emptiness of that phrase. Janice, thank you for having the courage to see differently in this area. It will be a blessing to so many people you interact with who are hurting. So some may say after reading your article that scripture implies that God will break you until you learn to turn to him in the times of suffering instead of handling it yourself.
It is true that God will use the trials we go through to help build character and perseverance. And also to teach us to trust and rely on Him. How ever that needs to be held in tension with the truth that God is altogether good and loving. He is not a cruel God who is callused to our pain and suffering. I was faced with this very question 11 months ago when my oldest son 20 died in a climbing accident. You think I can handle this? These are not platitudes; these are promises.
My reality was whether I was going to believe those promises, or choose to doubt Him. I had to make a concious decision to trust, even if my belief was shakey, even if my reality was pain. I turned to Him. Truth and honesty I think go hand in hand. My wife and I lost our only son, Jeremy in It was Fathers Day. He was washed out to sea in Australia. He was serving the Lord as a missionary to young people with Youth With a Mission. The story is too long for here, but I must say its the hardest thing we have ever gone thru.
If you want more of the story go to our website onetwentyone. God bless you with his peace and presence. I hope you can have grace to allow me to do that. There are a whole litany of scriptures that tell us to rejoice, and to rejoice in all circumstances that we may encounter! And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts an your minds in Christ Jesus.
ALL of you, who are going through difficult trials. It can be incredibly difficult to give praise and thanks while in the middle of stressful times. Continue to give praise and thanks until your focus changes and your countenance lifts. I might also mention, take note of the joy and peace that begin to enter your heart, mind, soul and being.
They are the gift of a loving Savior who loves your love for Him and your obedience to Him. I do not believe that God wants us to be thankful for the evil that happens to us. God is not the author of evil. The rejoicing does not refer to suffering becaue of evil. This is perhaps the best of your illustrations but I think it is still a little off when applied to harsh evil as worry is not the only emotion we experience when undergoing deep trials.
Second, thank you for your raw, honest post. I grew up in the church both my parents are ministers , but spent many years during and after college feeling disillusioned with it all. Our son was born too soon and spent time in the NICU. Two years later, my husband was diagnosed with brain cancer. Awful platitudes too numerous and ridiculous to mention are like salt in the wound.
People mean well, but some of the things we say have no real Biblical basis and are just downright unhelpful to hurting people. Thanks for speaking writing truth and for your authenticity in the midst of your own pain. I want to thank you for shedding light on a very damaging, very un-biblical phrase that too often serves to estrange a broken, hurting world even further from a true understanding and intimate knowledge of our loving Father. This is being shared everywhere! God gives people more than they can handle every day. There is one other that makes me crazy to hear….
I challenge them to try that while existing as a 7 year old child who has just been sold into sex slavery in some third world or first world for that matter country, who is being raped all day by middle aged pedophiles. For many, the past and the future are the only things keeping them alive in their now moments. Wow what can I saw other then you expressed what I could not find the words to say — as a long time sufferer of depression and anxiety some days it is more then I can bare and then I got diabetes and that tipped me to my last bit of hoarded resources — it is only God that keeps me going — sorry for all you have been through — and the courage to tell it like it is!
The last 9 years of my life have been hellish. God did not have a plan for me to suffer, and it has been more than I can handle — over and over and over again. But I am turning a corner as I am learning again to explore my feelings and, as courageously as possible, ask the hard questions, knowing that they may never be answered. Yet the asking is what I am finding important.
You post may be a lifesaver. And know that I, and I am sure many others, join in praying for you and your family. I wish it had been under better circumstances, but once again God was […]. God has made us all unique and with our own thoughts and interpretations on the things that we read, hear, and understand.
I truly appreciate the very honest place that you are coming from and I also appreciate all the comments, regardless of whether I agree with what anyone has to say… the difference in perspective is enjoyable. In my life, this has been a saying that has held hope and meaning for me because I relate it to the Bible verse of being able to do all things through Christ who gives me strength.
My husband has almost died twice in the last 10 years and we are young. My son almost died at birth and struggled for years with severe asthma and is now struggling with behavior problems in school. I was blessed enough to be able to help a young girl finish high school that caused me to have to work with people who, daily, treated me poorly because of my skin color. I also dealt with the daily threat of the gang of drug dealers harming my family because I chose to help this girl. My perspective is my own and I just wanted to share that, for me, this is neither empty nor a platitude if it is followed up with genuine conversation and spoken with prayerful thought.
I know that God is not the cause of great evils like the Holocaust, child slavery, wars or evils that cause PTSD, gang violence, drug dealers, and the like but I do believe that with prayer and time there can be healing if the evil does not destroy us. God may not grant us healing on this earth.
We are human and subject to frailty but we have the hope of the resurrection to rely on. You have caused me to think regarding 1 Cor. Number 4 mentions adversity, etc. Could you please explain this to me. It would seem that temptation could mean adversity. Thanks for the comment, Regina. The context of 1 Corinthians 10 is important to understanding what kind of temptation Paul is talking about.
In 1 Corinthians 10 Paul is talking about idolatry and sexual immorality. He is not talking about suffering. Context is what is key with this verse. To take it out and apply it to suffering to prooftext it. Those that have wrestled with God bear His mark on their lives. Life is hard and perhaps there are no answers, unless living in a compassionate and loving relationship with all of creation on an individual basis as best we can, is an answer. I agree with Robert Aubrey. Bad things happen, horrible things happen,good and great things happen.
Sometimes as a result of human endeavor and sometimes by chance. I wrote about it, shared it online, and received the same mixed bag of responses. Some shared thanks or affirmation of my wrestling, others felt they ought to rebuke me or fix my thinking. But the God I know from scripture and from experience is both majestic enough to be beyond my understanding and compassionate enough to welcome and respond to my questions, cries, and doubts. He chose to speak directly to bold questioners and wrestlers — Abraham, Jacob, Moses, Job, etc.
It is also not wrong to cope by refusing to question. I have had a difficult time hearing and feeling God in my life since the loss of my 20 year old son who died by suicide in after a deployment to Iraq. That action was not from the son I knew before he became a Marine.
I have gotten on my knees many times and cried out to God for help. I love my Lord and have had a relationship with him most of my life. When my heart hurt so much I could hardly breathe, God was holding me, and weeping with me. I am praying for you. This is especially true of the unborn because so many fail to recognize it as a real loss. I have lost 7 babies, 6 though miscarriage and 1 through ectopic pregnancy.
I think the ectopic was the hardest because I had to sign the release form for the surgery. It felt like I was the one sentencing my baby to death. I was crying with a friend about a couple weeks later and she said something that really made sense and was comforting. A baby cannot survive when incorrectly implanted.
The circumstance itself is a death sentence for the child. Had I not signed the paper and gone through with it, the only outcome would have been my own death leaving my then 2 now 6 year old son without a mother and my husband without a wife. Now having some years distance from it I have a second son who is 1 and is his big brothers best friend. Thank you for writing on this subject. I have come to believe as you do. I read most of the comments and those who disagree defer to relying on God.
I beleive that is what you are saying. It is more than WE can handle, not more than God can handle. We as Christ followers may face more than we can handle, yet many of us make it through. It is because of God that we make it through. This is such powerful truth. Thank you for writing it down so articulately and so very, very well. When my son-in-law was dying a long, painful, protracted and ugly death, my daughter almost shut the door in the face of a good friend and former pastoral-staff-colleague when her visitor let those words past her lips.
I am so sorry for this extended time of suffering for you and for your family. YES, God does redeem. But being thankful FOR it — not a chance. Learning to be thankful IN it, yes. Praying with you for signs of resurrection amidst all the death around you right now. I am sorry for the pain your family is experiencing. I am glad that as process it, you find the strength to share these words.
Nate, I am so sorry. So so sorry that you and so many other believers are suffering. There is no platitude, no answer, nothing. While of course it speaks to it, all of scripture is seated in community. I truly wish that we would all suffer and love and be present without words and pray for whomever in the body is hurting because as we are taught, if one part is off, the whole suffers.
I will be praying for you and all the post-ers here suffering, in the spirit of joining you in the only way I can. All that matters before, during or after is to be loved in it. Show up for them all, in ways that confound the New Age version of miracles. Show up, address their cries, encircle them with tangible people who are Your hands and feet, unafraid of silence, comfortable with presence, bringing pot pies as needed.
Father, the chapter of these stories are brutal. There are 2 parts to the statement God never gives you more than you can handle. The first part is God, the 2nd part is you. Those who have passed on are in a better place. Our grief, our pain never brings them back. Yet he died for us.
To prepare a way for us. I have Type 1 diabetes. It can be deadly. How I cope is that I try to help others wo have it by using my experiences. I had a good friend who died of pancreatic cancer 2 years after retiring. A great father and grandfather, he had hiked the Appalachian trail.
After diagnosis, he traveled and spoke to raise awareness and support and to give help. Always had a smile, even when in the last stages. He taught alot of us how to live and how to die, something all of us will do sooner or later. How much suffering could be somewhat alleviated but for our own apathy for our fellow human beings and our own selfishness? Thank you for writing what you wrote. Although to get to this point you are in pain as well as those around you.
I have no words of comfort, and any comments beyond standing with you would be just like ressurecting Eliphaz. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and feelings so honestly…and expressing so eloquently something that has caused me to cringe every time I hear it said to me or some one else. It is like fingernails on a chalkboard.
I struggle daily with the feelings that you brought up as my husband is terminal and I am his caregiver…it has been a long difficult journey, one that has turned my faith inside out. That is just one of the hard things, hard being an understatement. I would rather people tell me yes, that really is hard, I am sorry you are going through this…be honest with me.
Not some platitude that means nothing in regards to caring and does nothing to strengthen ones faith exactly when one needs it the most. I ask all the same questions. So, again thank you and God bless you. And I am sorry that you and your family are going through this, I am so very sorry about the pregnancy and all of the things on your heart right now…they are all hard and painful…I am praying for you and your wife and that friend… peace. Nate — having walked through the valley of the shadow on several occasions, I can confirm both humanistically and theologically that you are right on.
In fact, I have come to believe that, while it is not typically God that puts us in these situations, He allows them in our lives for reasons we may never comprehend. I have also come to discern that sometimes these things are allowed for the express purpose of helping us understand that we can not walk through life in our own strength. Simply said, we were created by God to be dependent on God. I hope it brings some small comfort to remember that the Gardner is never closer to the branch than when He is pruning dead leaves.
May God comfort you and ease your pain. You were actually able to put so many of my thoughts into words. I am the parent of a special needs daughter that has many medical complicaitons. Family and friends have been saying this to me for years, and it always bothers me. I feel that I and only I can decide when I have had more then I can handle. And that it is up to me to turn to God for the strength and support to expand my limits.
BibleGateway
Jennifer Lachonce shared this article with me and I am very grateful. I will be sharing it with more parents in the special needs community. Can I also please share this with my priest? I have often felt alone when I disagree with this saying. I also feel that we need to help people realize that it is being courageous that lets you be angry with God at times like this and not a doubt in your faith as many people feel. Thank you again for putting this into wonderful words. The right words at the right time. We are going through our second abandonment by our church and platitudes ring hollow.
Thanks for honesty through your pain. I will pray for you and your family, even though we have never met. Funny, even as I try to say something encouraging it just comes across as platitudinous. Your energies are going out to too many places all at once and you know that you cannot waste what precious resources you have on that person and a dope slap up the side of their head is not an option either lol! Thanks for addressing this.. Meanwhile, I mean this as no pat answer when I say, that I am sending up a prayer for you, for that is where my strength lies..
I have been saying this same thing since we lost our baby to miscarriage in Three years later, three failed adoption attempts later, three years filled with inferitlity later — and we are still hopeful that one day God will redeem it all. I started blogging in at http: You named this cliche appropriately.
A friend on facebook shared this and it really touched me. They do not have a theology of suffering, only triumph, which is why they say things that have a victorious intent. They have no clue how to deal with life and death challenges, so they say stupid phrases that help them to deal with our situation. We are lucky to have the people who have been present too, weeping with us, bringing us food doing our laundry and just sitting with us. Good stuff, though do not entirely agree. So yes, I agree the suffering may not directly be the topic discussed in that verse.
He was really really upset at suffering of himself, Israel, etc. God is still on His throne. Sure we could die. Nearly went on lung transplant list. But it is NOT more than one can handle as far as succumbing to the temptation to doubt the goodness of God. That is always my fault, even though yes the verse is about temptation. This denies the reality that God, because of His goodness, gave His creations free will, even though doing so required Him to let go of anything close to total control of the world.
Ultimately as long as there are sinners there will be suffering, and innocent suffering at that. And not because God chooses it. Denial of this fact is sometimes easier than being present in all its results, but when we claim God is in control of everything we falsely give justification for blaming Him for choices that must hurt Him as much as many of their earthly victims. And we lose the opportunity to gain intimacy with God while we are both suffering. Thank you for writing this, Nate. It has an obvious value for Christians while we are suffering, and a very powerful, if subtler, value for the larger church the temporarily-less-suffering?
But he is in control of all things. This does not violate free will. This is how Paul can say to rejoice in suffering! We could blame God for suffering, but that is leaning too far into determinism. It screwed him up psychologically to have such horrible theology. He is in control of everything AND my suffering is the result of sin, death and the devil. Even the demons had to ASK Jesus nicely to be put into the pigs. They also asked if they were headed for the lake of fire yet. The coming kingdom promises a cosmic redemption.
I love the invitation to scream Psalm 13 at the top of our lungs together.
Intersection of Life and Faith
I am with you! I live for the chance to be with them in Heaven! I have a post below, and it says the things I have gone through. These things hurt and it leaves residual pain, but it has given me the chance to die to self. I lost a son, but He gave His son for me and you. He knows what loss is. I work to share His sacrifice and eagerly await for that day of days! The response to the post was overwhelming.
Not only have more […].
- 10 Ways to Honor Thyself?
- Song Exchange in Roman Pastoral: 5 (Trends in Classics - Supplementary Volumes).
- II. Bible Principles Involved.
- Introduction à létude de la médecine expérimentale: édition intégrale (Études) (French Edition).
- 7 Ways to Pray When Your Child Goes Astray?
- Retratos (Spanish Edition).
I have a beautiful gift in a 15 year-old daughter who happens to have severe special and medical needs. I often have too much to bear…. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. I will be praying for you, your family, and ministry as you walk this path.
Thank you so much for this. I get so tired of people saying this. My son, who is now 26, became addicted to meth when he was Meth destroyed the son I loved.
- How to See God’s Purpose in Your Disappointment?
- Mac OS X Tiger Killer Tips?
- See a Problem?.
At 17, be became a father to a beautiful little girl. She was hidden from us for 3 years. At 19, my son was clean off meth, but not drugs or alcohol. He was on a drug and alcohol binge for almost 2 years while I was in counseling trying to make sense of why my granddaughter was murdered. At the age of 25, my son was diagnosed with PTSD and high anxiety. For 6 months, he was incapable of leaving his house. He lost his job, his friends, his life. After the Capital Murder trial for the man who murdered my granddaughter he got life , I became very tired and thought it was from stress.
The stress from the trial brought the dormant disease to the surface. As a result of not knowing I had it, I also have cirrhosis of the liver. I am better now and in remission. My son is on medication and is currently working at a good job. His new girlfriend just had a baby girl Thursday and I have another granddaughter.
I never thought I would be capable of making it through any one of these events in my life. I have never hidden from the Lord my feelings or wondering why me? I have asked all the hard questions of Him, knowing that someday I will understand why these things have happened. I still miss my granddaughter and I still struggle with having my disease. It has altered my life. I know my Lord loves me and He has sustained me through all of these tragic events. He can handle your anger. I do say that you are in my thoughts and I shout out wordless prayer for you.
He understands and He still loves me. He walks with us and He brings us up and He restores us. Satan came to steal, kill and destroy. Jesus came so we could have life. This is a good time to look at Job. God did NOT kill his children and give him all of that suffering. Maybe God did give you all of these problems, or maybe He only allowed them. Thank you for saying this! I have always interpreted that scripture the way you just did, and it set my teeth on edge to hear it as a useless platitude. Indeed, we are allowed to suffer more than we can bear.
This is where we find our faith. As the pastor in a small midwestern town, I was asked to lead a candle light vigil last fall. Around the time of Sandyhook, our small farming community had two separate tragedies — parents and their three school aged children killed in a house fire and parents and their two children killed in a car accident on one of our country roads. Following the service, the president of a local university, who is a Universal Unitarian himself, stood in line to speak with me. I only know him socially, yet, when he came to me, he embraced me.
I was taken aback and yet it was so sincere. So many times Christians have pat answers or scriptures to toss out. But in pain, none of that soothes. Until you or God ends your life you are bearing it. There difference is how you choose to bear it. Are they bearing it? Thank you for this. As I cope with the death of my father and other stuff, this was good to hear. The Cross will never appeal to the human will. Book Club participants are invited to join an e-mail group set up to facilitate announcements and host discussions about the current reading selection.
I. Nature and Origin of the Days
Members will be eligible for monthly free book drawings. To join, send a blank e-mail to acfwbookclub-subscribe yahoogroups. Follow the instructions given in the e-mail to complete your subscription to this e-mail list. Then all you have to do to be eligible to win one of five copies of A Dream Fulfilled is show up on the 6th is to participate in my chat when you receive the email from ACFW Book Club, responding with an email of your own. I have a favor to ask. If you have read A Dream Fulfilled and liked it, would you consider posting a review on Amazon for me?
All it takes is posting a BRIEF review 1 or 2 lines would do it, just saying you liked it if you did. And if you do, please let me know so I can personally thank you, okay? Especially on indie books like A Dream Fulfilled , where I don't have a big publisher promoting it. Just little ol' me! Think of it this way -- the more good reviews, the more sales, and the more sales, the more books I can write, okay? Sales, free download, new releases, and 5 chances to win.
A Dream Fulfilled from my most recent Facebook Live! Hey, guys, just a quick reminder about some fun things going on right now so you don't miss out! I'm giving LOTS of e-books away, so check it out below! Here's the jacket blurb and link, so I hope you check it out:. Love is desperate to surprise them both. Giveaways will be announced next week, so there's plenty of time to enter.
Or winners can choose their choice of any of my other indie e-books. Conversation with an Atheist. So come on over, leave a comment, and you're in the draw! Did you know you can give e-books as gifts and schedule their delivery for any date up to a year away? Yep, all you do is click on the "Buy for others" box beneath the actual buy box on the right-hand side of the page, then simply schedule delivery of your "gift"! For all you aspiring writers, here is a brand-new writer's how-to book you are NOT going to want to miss! That way, you get ten viewpoints on what has worked best for each of us in becoming a published author.
The book is available in e-book or paperback, so I hope you check it out. Ah, isn't that the truth? At least it has been for me, when negative situations in my life have turned around for good, giving total credence to one of my favorite Scriptures:. Because when Katie's dream collides with Luke's, upsetting their happy home, God takes a negative situation and turns it around for good with a dream fullfilled. Not only for Katie and Luke, but for everyone in the story. And , I hope Your help in spreading the word about this outstanding writer's tool is MOST appreciated!
I wish I could say thank you by awarding every entrant a prize. But, alas, I'd be in the red if I did, so here are our two winners with an EXTRA winner 3rd Place at the last minute because of all the effort she put into this contest. Character in next book, signed copy, 2 indie e-books OR 1 paperback. More info to come! To se the scene up, Katie and her two girls arrive home late from the park, and Luke is worried because he didn't know where they were.
The poor man had already devoured two platefuls and was working on his third, barely coming up for air while Katie filled him in on her day. She swallowed hard as she poured him a Nehi. Clunking his empty glass down, he proceeded to sop up the last of his gravy with a piece of bread, cleaning his plate so thoroughly, she could have put it back in the cupboard. You know, a close friend I can confide in and pray with other than my sisters. The planes of his handsome face softened with sympathy, his smattering of freckles lost in a year-round tan clearly underscoring his aversion to being cooped up anywhere for long.
She plucked his dish and utensils up with a lift of her chin.
No, not a career given up, she reminded herself as she carried them to the sink with a square of shoulders. A career postponed till later for the sake of a far nobler one. Turning, she shot a smile over her shoulder while she washed his dishes. His chuckle filled the cozy kitchen as he kneaded the bridge of his nose.
She expelled a wispy sigh as she reached to wipe off the table. As if these friendships were truly meant to be. Luke grabbed her wrist on her final swipe, his blue eyes darkening as he drew her onto his lap with a decadent smile. How can true spirituality come from pagan heathenism? At least once a year during the Easter Season Is this a serious obligation?
It would be a mortal sin deliberately to ignore it. This is called the Easter Duty. How often do good Catholics receive Holy Communion? Every Sunday, and many receive every day" - Catholic Catechism , p. The majority of Protestants, while not claiming to accept the authority of the Catholic church, nevertheless believe it is more important to attend at Easter and Christmas than at other times. This is an inevitable perversion that occurs whenever people, on their own human authority, make a special time of year more important religiously than other times.
People will inevitably begin to think it is more important to be religious then than at other times. Meeting with God's people is not a once or twice a year obligation. We should be there whenever the church meets. When people act by human authority and especially when they adopt pagan practices which are steeped in evil, immorality, and religious perversions, such errors as these are inevitable. They are not just incidentals but are an inherent part of the error. They are not authorized in the New Testament, and this is admitted by those who practice them yet know something about the Bible.
They claim their modern holy days are modifications of Old Testament holy days or are the same kind of thing as those were. They reason that, if it was acceptable to have holy days in the Old Testament, then it should be acceptable to have holy days now. These things, including holy days, were just a shadow of things to come. Therefore, we should allow no one to judge us regarding them. The law cannot be used as authority for holy days because it is no longer binding as law. It is not proper to use the law to justify a few isolated concepts that we want to observe.
It must be taken or rejected as a whole. Specifically, if we seek to justify holy days on the basis of the law, then we must keep all the Old Testament holy days in the way the law said to keep them Passover, Day of Atonement, Feast of Tabernacles, etc. We cannot change them or add new ones to suit ourselves. And we must keep all the other requirements of the law: If we do so, we have fallen from grace. In the Old Testament, God instituted a number of holy days.
These are not in effect today, but the record of them in the Old Testament can teach us some useful lessons Rom.
How to See God’s Purpose in Your Disappointment
One lesson is that God always clearly told His people what He wanted done on a holy day, what its purpose was, and when to do it. Never did God leave men free to decide whether to observe these feasts, when to do so, or what the purpose was. These were always clearly revealed. If God wants us to observe such annual holy days as Christmas, Easter, and Lent, why are they not just as clearly revealed in the Scriptures? People sometimes use the Old Testament to justify practices that are not mentioned in the New Testament. Actually, a study of the Old Testament ought to more strongly convince us God does not want these practices.
When God accepted certain Old Testament annual holy days, He expressly said so in clear terms. If he wants annual holy days today, such as Christmas and Easter, why does He not clearly say what to do, when to do it, and what the purpose is? The contrast to what He said about Old Testament holy days is convincing evidence He does not want such days observed.
We eat the bread and drink the fruit of the vine remembering His body and blood. The context shows we do it when the church is assembled together. This was to be done regularly Acts 2: Again in this memorial God tells us what to do, when to do it, and what the purpose is, just as clearly as with Old Testament feasts. Yet this is a memorial of the major event of the New Testament by which our sins are forgiven.
Since God has clearly authorized the Lord's supper as the memorial He wants to Jesus' death, and since all admit that He never authorized these annual holy days, by what right do we observe them religiously? When God wanted annual holy days, He clearly provided for them in His word. Today He clearly provides for a weekly memorial to Jesus' death.
If these modern annual holy days are "good works," why are they nowhere taught in the Scriptures? His word is truth John If annual holy days should be practiced in His worship, we ought to find them in His word. Yet all admit they are not found in His word. Hence, they are not part of truth. How can we practice them if we worship Him in spirit and truth? We can remember His death each first day of the week by His authority. Yet all agree His word never authorizes annual holy days, therefore they cannot be kept religiously in His name. Since we must do all things in His name, by what right could we observe them religiously?
The origin of these holy days clearly shows that they were begun by men and are not found in the Scriptures. They admittedly exist by human authority and are perpetuated by human tradition. What does God say about this? Jesus taught that their human traditions made void God's word. Following human doctrines made their worship vain. He compared these doctrines to plants the Father had not planted that would be rooted up.
Admittedly, modern religious holy days are not in the Bible, hence they must be human in origin. They are man-made traditions. Why subject ourselves to human ordinances, precepts of men, regarding what should not be tasted? They constitute a show of humility, but don't really lead to overcoming fleshly indulgence. Lent is a perfect example of the very thing described here. Human doctrines declare that certain foods meats should not be tasted. A show of humility is made in giving up certain vices, but it is only done temporarily, fully intending to go back to it later.
Extra indulgence is done before and after Lent because there will be none during Lent. There is no real value in overcoming fleshing indulgence. Yet it is agreed that these holy days are not in the teachings of inspired men anywhere. They are human in origin and constitute a change in the gospel.