Some have said, “God will not give you more than you can handle.”
Or, “God won’t put more on you than you can bear.” Those are actually misleading statements given by well-meaning individuals. However, they are scripturally inaccurate.
I must confess too, that a small part of me just wants to scream at people who repeat such cliches. I know better, though. Screaming is not the best way to teach correct theology. I mainly get internally agitated with those who consider themselves Bible-believing Christians. They should know better.
Let me be brief and blunt. Christian, please stop repeating phrases like these that are not true. Nope, sorry – I can’t let you have a pass on this one. No, First Corinthians 10:12-13 does not teach that error. I’ll avoid typing twelve more Scripture references because that would exacerbate this post. Besides, I don’t want to type more than you can bear; )
The reality of Scripture, Early Church history, and our own lives teach us that our loving, Heavenly Father does indeed allow His children to deal with more than they can bear. Why would He do such a thing? I won’t pretend to have all the answers to that question, but there is one thing I know. More than we can handle keeps us returning to our loving Father, searching for His help and more grace to make it through. Besides, “Faith does not eliminate questions. But faith knows where to take them” (Elisabeth Elliot).
Life has given me more than I can handle on more than one occasion. Okay, like most of the days of my life have been more than I can handle on my own. This, my friend, keeps me in the continual conversation of prayer. Prayer, in Jesus’ name and guided by the Holy Spirit, to my Father in Heaven is how I live in victory.
The good news is not that God won’t give us more than we can handle. The good news is that He won’t give us more than He can handle. You see, in this process of not only surviving but thriving in the daily routines of life, we prayerfully see His grace and experience His mercy. “The best thing of all is God is with us” (John Wesley).
Think about it. If God didn’t allow us to experience more than we can handle, most Christians would live so independently that they’d act like their own god – an apostate humanistic existence. However, a life of daily dependence upon God’s grace is exactly what it takes to walk in victory.
How can you avoid believing such cliches that sound compassionate but are not biblical? I’m glad you asked (well, I’m glad you read the question). Read the Bible for yourself; it’s phenomenal. It is God’s will that we understand its teachings, and He will help us. Do you need a plan to stay on track? Contact me, and I’ll be glad to provide you with some printed Bible reading plans, totally free of charge with no strings attached.
Is your theology based more on commonly repeated phrases and cliches than it is your own understanding of Scripture? Let’s be a people of one Book and let His Word rule our thoughts.
Okay, that is all. You may now return to your regular schedule and make it a great day.
williamstricklandblog.com 
I like yours perspective on this. But with respect to temptations, what do you make of 1 Corinthians 10:13, “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. 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 endure it.?”
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Thank you for asking.
In respect to this verse and the word temptations much can be discovered by reviewing original language resources. The Greek word translated as temptation here is actually much more broad than that. It also includes seasons of trials and testings. But in regards to temptations, God never tempts His children to sin. James 1:12-15 makes it clear that temptations do not originate with God. He does however allow us to be tested and go through trials in order to strengthen our faith. These trials are common to the existence of all flesh and blood. These times of testing (trials for righteousness sake) are never beyond what the Christian can bear because God is with us and there is nothing too difficult for Him. He is larger than any problem and greater than any circumstances we go though. With a steadfast “looking unto Jesus” we find His grace alway reveals Himself as the escape route out of any time of trial, testing, or temptation.
Also in regards to temptations, Christians never have to willfully sin against God’s known will by outright transgression. While we were subject to the law of sin and death before we were born again – our temptations were too hard to bear. Having been born again, we no longer are subject to (inwardly compelled to) obey the law of sin and death. We now operate by faith under the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus. This greater law has set us free from the power of sin and death.
I’ll stop here, I sense that I might be providing you with more of a reply than you desired.
The peace of the Lord be with you.
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Thanks for the further explanation. Very useful. Bottomline, whatever life throws at us, we can handle it. Not by our power but by the power of God in us. Without Him, we can do nothing.
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Wow. Victor, that’s a great and simple way of summarizing what I was trying to communicate.
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I kid you not, but I just spoke about this very thing last Wednesday. Even the part about God will allow us to be loaded down with more than we can bear because it forces us to rely on Him. Get out of my head!!! 😉
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Chris, we could simply agree that great minds think alike, but then our wives might request a rebuttal. Their first inquiry would be “now who are these great minds you speak of?” Lol.
It’s an interesting subject, to say the least. Such poor theology exists when we don’t read the Bible for ourselves.
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If you read a little further into Paul’s writings, he confirms this himself, and gives us the purpose.
“We do not want you to be unaware, brothers, about the hardships we encountered in the province of Asia. We were under a burden far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. 9Indeed, we felt we were under the sentence of death, in order that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God, who raises the dead.” 2 Corinthians 1:8-9
So while not everything bad comes from God (that’s my belief), some things definitely are. We would be worse off without them.
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Thank you for commenting Brandon. I like this statement, “We would be worse off without them.”
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