Caring for One Another

by Tericia Eller

My Daddy used to always say that God will never give you more than you can handle. I remember not being totally convinced of that truth. I have even heard others say that particular idea is not Biblical.  Then one day I came across a verse in the Bible that seemed to express the same sentiment my Daddy did: “No test or temptation that comes your way is beyond the course of what others have had to face. All you need to remember is that God will never let you down; he'll never let you be pushed past your limit; he'll always be there to help you come through it.” 1 Corinthians 10:13 (The Message) I want to be clear here that I do not believe that God means for me to “handle” life on my own; on the contrary, what He wants is for me to seek Him.

It was not until I went through my divorce that I began to wonder about my Daddy’s advice, so I went back to 1 Corinthians 10:13 and read it again.  What I understood then was this: There is NO experience that I will EVER have that is unique to ME.  There will ALWAYS be someone else who has been through it.  AND, here’s the best part, if I stick close to God and seek Him, He will provide all I need to endure and triumph to His glory.  But it does not end there.  Right in the middle of the darkest, most painful, and deepest despair of my divorce, I clearly felt the Lord reminding me that He would see me through, and that when I had reached the other side of the storm, I was to turn around and reach out; there would be someone else there, heading right into the same kind of storm God had just brought me through.  I promised Him that I would.

It did not take long.  A few months after my divorce was final, I found out a friend was going through exactly what I did.  I reached out to her and shared with her what God had done for me. I shared His Word and His promises.  I told her that God would carry her through if she sought Him with all of her heart.  I then challenged her to look back when SHE reached the other side and reach out.  God provided just such an opportunity for her to do so.  She was able to share God’s Word and promises to a Christian sister headed into a painful divorce.

As children of God, we are called to share God’s promises, not only with non-believers, but with other believers as well!  We are called to lift one another up as a community.  We are to “love our neighbors as ourselves.”  We are the Body of Christ. We must care for each other.