More Than You Can Handle: When Life's Overwhelming Pain Meets God's Overcoming Grace
"God won't give you more than you can handle." This is one of the most common and least helpful reassurances floating around Christian circles. It is anything but biblical. The truth is that God does allow a lot more than we can handle. But why?
Nate Pyle has walked through tragedy in his own life--professional uncertainty, the intense impact of mental illness, and the struggle to build a family because of a lost pregnancy, infertility, and adoption. As a pastor, Nate has cried with countless people experiencing deep and overwhelming pain. They want answers but perhaps even more, they want someone to sit with them as they lament.
Cliché Christianity tells us not to ask questions in hard times. Yet transformation awaits us in the dark night of the soul. In More Than You Can Handle, Nate asks with you: "God, where are you in this pain? Why don't you step in and act?" Because when we courageously bring all of who we are to all of who God is--and stop pretending we can "handle" life--we encounter the God of Redemption. The good news isn't that we can handle everything, but rather that God promises to be with us at the very moments we can't handle anything.
Skillfully weaving together his own story, the stories of others, and a powerful look at the life of Jesus, Nate delivers a fresh and timely response to the pain we each experience. As Nate reminds us, the only thing more overwhelming than the pain of life is the love of a God who carries that pain with us.
In More Than You Can Handle, Nate deals with some of the most difficult questions we have all asked: God where are you in this pain? Why didn't you stop to act? Do I have enough faith to survive? And so many more. In life, we all suffer, but he challenges the reader about how to handle the suffering even when it looks like a journey we have never embarked on before. Nate is real in how he talks about suffering and doesn't sugar coat the hard road of suffering, yet he offers hope. He has suffered so much himself, yet always looks to the cross. He gives permission for the reader to be angry with God and even shares about a time in prayer when he was angry with the Lord. His transparency and authenticity is refreshing. This is an author that you do not want to miss. I highly recommend this book. This is a book for many seasons and one that you could put on the shelf and read again for another season in life. It is filled with rich and deep understand that will leave the reader feeling hopeful.
About the Author:
Nate is an author, blogger and ordained pastor in the Reformed Church of America. He serves as the pastor of Christ's Community Church in Fishers, Indiana where he lives with his wife and son.
Never imagining himself to be a writer, Nate began blogging in 2011 to gain clarity around his own thinking on various topics, especially leadership and church. Quickly, Nate realized he was a unique voice in the blogosphere. Rooted deeply in Reformed theology, Nate's writing is laced with nuance and a pastoral posture that is markedly different than the major Reformed voices in the blogging circles. In a world defined by extremes, Nate is a refreshing voice that walks the fine line between extremes.
Nate is a life-long learner, avid outdoorsman, wanna-be athlete, and a frustrated downhill skier living in Indiana. You can connect with him at www.natepyle.com.
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