The earth erupted into life. People woken from their sleep. Belongings throwing themselves from the shelves to the floor. Some houses even began to tear themselves apart. we thought the earthquake in the early hours of the 4th of September 2010. But we really had no idea.
I believe it is a blessing we didn’t know what was to come if you had known the shaking would continue for years, insurance settlements would take years to pay out or decisions on key rebuilds would still be undecided seven years on, would you have stayed or would you have left Christchurch? Would you have lost your belief that it was going to get better? And when the deadly earthquake struck less than six months later would you have stayed if you knew what lay ahead? For me… I think I would have left. Even without the knowledge of what was to come I still had many moments of feeling overwhelmed and I wanted to run away, especially when the aftershocks woke me in the middle of the night.
The bible states that God only gives us what we can handle. For that I am so pleased. In 2 Corinthians 1 it talks about the feeling crushed and overwhelmed by our ability to endure and thinking that we wouldn’t survive. This caused Paul, the author of Corinthians, to stop relying on himself and to rely on God. Paul declared that God rescued him for danger and that God will do it again. This is a scripture I’ve held close to my heart since the 4th September 2010.
Whenever you feel overwhelmed and that you think you can’t carry on because of that, just remember that whatever you are facing God believes you are equipped and strong enough to deal with it. When we go through challenging situations and hard times it’s an opportunity for our faith muscles to grow. This means that God may allow a situation to arise that you can deal with that four years ago you couldn’t. Again, a reminder that He only gives us what we can handle.
Be encouraged whatever you are facing right now. God is with you in it and you have the victory regardless of what the situation looks like!
I believe it is a blessing we didn’t know what was to come if you had known the shaking would continue for years, insurance settlements would take years to pay out or decisions on key rebuilds would still be undecided seven years on, would you have stayed or would you have left Christchurch? Would you have lost your belief that it was going to get better? And when the deadly earthquake struck less than six months later would you have stayed if you knew what lay ahead? For me… I think I would have left. Even without the knowledge of what was to come I still had many moments of feeling overwhelmed and I wanted to run away, especially when the aftershocks woke me in the middle of the night.
The bible states that God only gives us what we can handle. For that I am so pleased. In 2 Corinthians 1 it talks about the feeling crushed and overwhelmed by our ability to endure and thinking that we wouldn’t survive. This caused Paul, the author of Corinthians, to stop relying on himself and to rely on God. Paul declared that God rescued him for danger and that God will do it again. This is a scripture I’ve held close to my heart since the 4th September 2010.
Whenever you feel overwhelmed and that you think you can’t carry on because of that, just remember that whatever you are facing God believes you are equipped and strong enough to deal with it. When we go through challenging situations and hard times it’s an opportunity for our faith muscles to grow. This means that God may allow a situation to arise that you can deal with that four years ago you couldn’t. Again, a reminder that He only gives us what we can handle.
Be encouraged whatever you are facing right now. God is with you in it and you have the victory regardless of what the situation looks like!