Several months ago, I was taking my late father to one of his chemotherapy treatments. It was a short drive, but Dad was reminiscing about something that my sister had said when dad was getting down in spirit. She said, “God will never give you more than you can handle.” When he said this, he sort of shrugged, and said, “I guess that makes sense.”
As he shared
that snippet of wisdom from my sister, the hair on the back of my neck stood
up.
I know where
she got that phrase: “God will never give you more than you can handle.” It
comes from Paul’s teachings to the Church in Corinth: “No testing has overtaken
you that is not common to everyone. God is faithful, and he will not let you
be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing he will also provide
the way out so that you may be able to endure it.” (I Corinthians 10:13, NRSV, Italics
mine.)
The only problem
with what my sister told my Dad and what Paul told the Corinthians is that they
are not the same thing. What Paul wrote had to do with temptations – most likely
the temptation to sin. This is not the same as the trials and sufferings that
we may endure. Being tempted and suffering are not the same. (Granted, sometimes
our suffering can be a direct result of our giving in to our temptations, but
again, that is not the heart of the matter at hand.)
Indeed, God
will many times give us MORE than we can handle. And it is not because God has
some sick, twisted sense of humor that loves to watch his creatures writhe in agony.
No, God gives us more than we can handle because God wants us to learn to trust
in him, and not rely on our own strength.
If we could handle
everything that came barreling down the pike toward us, why would we need a Savior?
Self-sufficiency is directly related to the fall in the Garden of Eden, is it
not? We want to become like God – all knowing, all powerful, in charge of our own
destinies. If we could handle everything, we would have no need for God.
Paul knew this.
And he learned it the hard way. Three times he cried out to God for relief from
his “thorn in the flesh,” and three times God replied, “My grace is sufficient.”
It is when we
finally give up on trying to do everything ourselves that we can finally allow
the Holy Spirit (who is INFINITELY better equipped!) to handle what we
ourselves cannot. And God’s perfect power is made perfect in our weakness. God
gives us much more than we can handle, so that we’ll learn to rely on and trust
in God.
Steve
Johnson, of Insight For Living, wrote:
“Because of our sin nature our default mode is self-sufficiency and independence from God. Rather than allowing His power—the power of Christ’s Holy Spirit who lives in every believer—to replace our weakness, we naturally try to handle things on our own.
“To say, ‘God will never give you more than you can handle’ just reinforces this error. The result is being overwhelmed. Paul tells us it was when he did not have the strength to face his own suffering that he found God’s power and faithfulness was sufficient to provide what he needed.” (https://www.insightforliving.ca/read/articles/god-will-never-give-you-more-you-can-handle).
When I shared these words with Dad,
suddenly he had a different resolve. And he said, “You’re right. I can’t do
this on my own. I guess I do need the Big Guy.” Everything he faced in his last
months he did with a peace in his heart. I wish I could say it was because of
me – but then I’d be boasting in myself. No, it was truly the Holy Spirit that
made my own soul sit up and take notice. And the hairs on the back of my neck,
too.
Trust in God.
Completely. God is the only one with the full resources and love enough and to
spare to see us all through no matter what comes.
See you in
Church!
