“God won’t put me through anything I can’t handle.” I’ve heard that statement a lot lately, and a ton over the past few years. It sounds good, doesn’t it? It makes us feel like our Christian walk is not going to be too hard. It might be a little hard, but not too hard. But is this Biblical? I don’t believe it is. And I have several scriptures to back it up.
Many times people think of 1 Corinthians 10:13, which says, “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.” This verse is talking about temptation, not hard circumstances. The context is talking about the sins that the Israelites have faced. God will help us to not fall to the temptation to sin. I think this is the verse where people are trying to back up the above statement.
Now let’s look at what it says in regards to what we will go through.
John 16:33 "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." Jesus is talking to his disciples here before He was crucified. It is after the Passover meal, after Judas has left them, and right before Jesus prays for the disciples and future believers. He is telling us that we will face trouble, but in the end, He overcomes.
One of my favorite verses is James 1:2-4 “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”
“Whenever you face trials”. It says WHEN, not IF. We are going to face trials. We are not immune from them simply because we are Christians.
“Testing of your faith develops perseverance” God wants to test our faith. He wants to refine it and make it stronger. Our faith does not become strong until it is pushed to its limits. My eighth grade algebra teacher had the word “perseverance” plastered all over her classroom to remind us that we had to keep trying, keep working, and never give up. God wants our faith strengthened to the point of never giving up.
One of my favorite TV shoes is “The Biggest Loser.” There was one episode where a contestant said something like, “I like working with the trainer, because she knows what I can do. I would give up, but she pushes me to the limit and I can do more than I ever thought I could or would on my own.” I think this is how it is with our trials and with God. He knows what we can go through, even if we don’t think we can. He wants to stretch us, to make us stronger. How can we be made stronger if we don’t face anything that pushes us to the limit? When you are trying to build muscle, you continually have to add weight. You can’t lift 5 lb weights every day and expect to develop strong muscles. You have to lift more and more every day. To develop your faith, you have to allow it to be tested. God allows that testing when he allows trials in our lives. The trials will probably get harder and harder as we need to develop stronger faith.
When I first started really liking this set of verses, I only looked at 2 and 3. But now I read verse 4: “Perseverance must finish its work so you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” I don’t know about you, but I want to be mature and complete! I don’t want to lack anything God wants to give me.
So we’ll go through trials. We’ll face hard times. How do we get through these hard times God is going to allow us to go through?
Philippians 4:13: “I can do everything through him who gives me strength.” Allow me to emphasize 2 words in the middle. “THROUGH HIM” We can only do it THROUGH HIM. Many times when we read this verse, we focus on the “I can do everything” part. But the focus should be on HIM. The focus should always be on Christ. We can only do everything through Christ. If we lean on Him for the strength, we will get through it.
1 Corinthians 12:9-10 “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. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
God’s grace is what we need to get through hard times. We receive His strength to get through the difficulties. It’s hard to welcome, much less delight in, difficulties, but this is what Paul is encouraging us here in this verse. It is when we are going through hardship that God’s power is revealed in us.
Maybe we need to rewrite the opening phrase. “God won’t put me through anything He can’t handle.” I don’t know about you, but I like that version a lot better. It takes the pressure off of me feeling like I have to be strong and reminds me that He will be my strength.
3 comments:
I agree. For the last several years, I've cringed inwardly whenever I heard someone use this platitude (as well as many others). Way back in 2003, the pastor at my former church in Tyler preached a series on "No, that's not in the Bible!" I got a copy of the sermon while I was in China. He said a lot of the same things you have said in your blog post. Here's a link to his sermon if you'd like to read it. http://s3.amazonaws.com/1002.assets/s082403.pdf
I completely agree with EVERYTHING you said! Travis and I have this discussion every time we hear someone say, "God won't give me more than I can handle." He does, and it is so we become stronger in our faith relying on Him to do the things for us we can't.
I couldn't have read this at a more perfect time. Thanks for sharing. I totally agree!
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