"God Won't Give You More Than You Can Handle" Is A Myth
Posted by:
Bible Blogger on
December 8, 2006 at
6:34PM EST
How often in times of trouble have you or someone around you said
"well, God will never give you more than you can handle"? It's usually
done in an attempt to comfort someone who's just had something pretty
crappy happen to them. It could be anything from not getting a job
they needed to meet their bills or a marriage/relationship breaking up
or some kind of physical illness.
When you're in those
situations it's nice to have a friend or someone who will try and shove
that misconception upon you. It means someone on Earth actually cares
about you and that provides comfort. However, that belief isn't
something that God really said to us in his word. This belief seems to
come from 1 Corinthians 10:13 (NIV):
"No temptation has seized
you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let
you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he
will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it."
The
verse doesn't say God won't put you in a situation where you can't
handle the burden...it says that he won't let you be TEMPTED beyond
what you can bear. There is a world of difference between the two
situations. It's true that God will provide a way of escape in any
tempting situation regardless of what your temptation may be...sex,
drugs, alcohol, shopping, food, etc. That doesn't mean he's going to
take away the empty feelings or hurt or frustration. Things that can
really only be filled by Him.
What does God say about
situations? Well, He never directly says it but one could make a case
that "God won't give you more than He can handle" is an accurate
description. That comes from 2 Corinthians 12:9(NIV):
"But
he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made
perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about
my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me."
When we
are facing painful situations it's usually because we're powerless to
do something about it. We can't go out and make someone be our true
love forever. (I'm not talking temporary one night things...I'm
talking that kind of love you see in those romance movies on the
Lifetime Network.) We can't just tell the cancer or other disease we
may have to go away and it disappears. We can't walk into a business
and tell the owner they're going to give us a job that will pay us what
we deserve and they'll just do it. These are things that are out of
our control but not God's control.
The question then becomes
whether or not you'll trust God with everything and allow Him to use
His strength on your behalf. It's not fun either because God's timing
is not our timing. It leads to a lot of pain in our lives until we
reach the point of being satisfied in just knowing He cares about it.
It's
hard and while someday it may get easier there are times where we feel
it's too much. That you want to drink a bottle of Drano to be
literally as hollow inside and you feel in your spirit. You feel as if
there's nothing left for you and you want to just lay down, sleep and
never wake up. I can understand exactly what you mean because I've
been there as well. Almost everyone has felt that way at some point.
The
only thing I can say is that God said his power is made perfect in our
weakness so acknowledge the weakness and just trust that when God
finally decides to move and end the trial it's going to be better than
we could hope to find ourselves. Even when it seems your unending
trial is about to finally conclude...and you suddenly find yourself
deeper in the valley than you were before...just realize He is faithful
and He is there.
And if you're in that place right now, I'll
be praying for you. If you e-mail me, I'll be happy to pray by name or
for a specific situation. May God bless you.
