Wayne Richardson, Clearwater Christian Church
For some of you this has not been the best summer, and you may be wondering if life will ever be back to normal.
Tragedy, heartache, the loss of a loved one; all these things I know some of you have been going through.
How many times have we heard; “God will never give you more than you can handle,” or, “This wouldn’t happen if God didn’t think you could handle it?”
These statements are hogwash.
Nowhere in the Bible does it say, “God will never give you more than you can handle.”
We get this idea from 1 Corinthians 10:13
13 No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.
You see in this passage Paul is talking about temptations, not sufferings. In fact, Paul tells us the opposite in 2 Corinthians 1:8-9
“8 For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. 9 Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.”
The statement; “God will never give you more than you can handle” causes us to look inward, not Godward. It causes us to believe we are in control, and we can handle whatever comes our way.
Friends, God doesn’t want us to handle anything on our own. He wants to help us walk through all our sufferings.
Look at what Paul says in verse 9:
“9 Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.”
First we must not look at this as God causing the suffering. The point Paul is making is that whatever suffering we are going through we can’t handle it on our own. We need to rely on God, the one who raised Jesus. Look at what the Bible tells us in Psalms 46:1-3:
“1 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. 2 Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, 3 though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling. Selah.”
How do we tell a prisoner of ISIS, “Don’t worry, God won’t give you anything you can’t handle?” Or a mother whose children have been snatched by local rebels? Or someone who has been diagnosed with a terminal illness? Or someone who just lost a loved one from a tragic accident or illness?
Friends, we can’t. We can, however, walk beside them in their tragedy and allow the love of God we have through Jesus to shine through us, showing them that God is there helping and comforting them through it
