"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."
I told them (kindly, I promise) that they are taking the verse out of context and that Paul is referring to temptation…not trials. It just doesn't make sense for it to be anything else. It seems contradictory to what I have understood the Christian life to be. The Bible is full of people who can't handle what is coming at them-Paul included! Is this not the same guy who wrote;
"Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure." 2 Corinthians 11: 24-27
Sounds like more than anyone could handle! But Paul also wrote;
"More than that,
we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and
endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not
put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the
Holy Spirit who has been given to us." Romans 5:3-5
Perhaps you think me unkind or too blunt, but I am
passionate about this subject. I have
seen too many of my beloved friends bowled over by suffering, pain and
loss. I have sat with friends who
literally could not pull themselves off the floor because the pain was so
unbearable. I have sat helplessly on the
phone and listened to people I love weep uncontrollably because they are so
desolate. I myself have been so aggrieved and wracked with suffering and sorrow
that I became sick and dehydrated from crying so much. Why?
Because my life was more than I could handle. God, the director of my life, had opened the
door and allowed more than I could handle to enter.
But, I am in good company.
Job: Lost his children, his wealth and health. His wife was a jerk and his friends were
judgmental. More than he could handle?
Abraham: Called by God to sacrifice his beloved son as an
act of obedience. More than he could
handle?
Mary, the mother of Jesus: Stood by and watched her precious
Son be crucified and die. More than she could handle?
David: Pursued relentlessly by Saul for 4 years and forced
to live the life of a fugitive-more than he could handle?
Jesus: Carried the weight of mankind's sin and died on a
cross to save us all-more than He could handle?
I don’t know about you, but until I learned the truth of God’s
sovereignty and the incorrectness of the “more than we can handle” line of
thinking, I honestly thought there was something wrong with me for feeling so
overwhelmed and strung out! I would
question myself and my relationship with God because I knew I was experiencing
far more than I could handle! I thought I lacked genuine faith. But this is simply not true. I love God, I know Him and I serve Him and I
am most definitely given more than I can handle. All. The. Time. I know I am not the only one, and I want to
encourage all of us who suffer or know someone who is suffering to stop falling
back on clichés and instead focus on the truth of God’s word to us.
I now know that God does
allow more than we can handle to come into our lives but He can enable us to endure. He gives us strength. He has promised He
would never leave us. Never forsake us. Bless our perseverance. He said He would give us joy in the midst of
suffering, and perfect us through our sorrows. Check out these verses; they are just a few of the dozens upon dozens of
verses in the Bible relating to suffering and God's view on the matter.
"Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when
it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to
you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also
rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the
name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests
upon you. But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or
as a meddler. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but
let him glorify God in that name. ..."
1 Peter 4:12-19
"Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of
various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces
steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be
perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." James 1:2-4
"For I consider that the sufferings of this present
time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us."
Romans 8:18
It says in Psalm 119:68 "You are good and do
good!" Did you catch that? God is only ever able to do good! There is no "shadow of turning" in
Him, He is simply incapable of doing anything with malicious intent or ulterior
motives! I can trust Him when He says,
"And after you have suffered a little while, the God of
all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself
restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you." 1 Peter 5:10
I have hope that God is making me who He wants me to
be. I am thankful that he uses the
painful trials and circumstances to draw me closer to Him and challenge me to
go deeper, dig in and know him more. I am so blessed to know there is a greater
purpose at work. There will always be
"more than I can handle" moments, but I trust my Jesus and my Lord to
always do what's best for me. I pray
this is true for you as well.
