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Yes, this is such a pet peeve that I feel convinced I need to start a blog mini-series on this topic.
A few years ago I was stuck in a job without a future, homesick, deceived by 'friends' and too sick to keep food or water down after a doctor overdosed me on anti-fever pills when a well-meaning Christian friend said this to me in an effort to comfort me "God will never take you through more than you can handle". I can't count the number of times I have heard that statement or its close cousin "God will never give you more than you can bear". The saying is potentially a paraphrase of I Corinthians 10:13 (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).
My problems with this statement are:
- That verse does not really say that God is the giver of temptation. Indeed, the Bible also says that when we are tempted we are not to say that we are tempted by God because God does not tempt man (James 1:13).
- It paints the picture of a distant God who creates you with a suffering threshold and then increases your level of suffering until you reach that threshold. Then He sits back and watches you squirm until you have satisfactorily discovered that you do have a threshold and this suffering is bearable.
- If God only lets us go through what we can handle, we don't need to rely on Him at all. We can handle everything that comes our way, we don't ever have to ask Him for help or cling to Him when we feel like we cannot go any further.
After struggling through a few trials with my own strength, I decided to shake off this expectation that I need to prove to God that I can handle it, that I can tap into this strength reservoir that He has given me. Instead, I choose to believe something else. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me (Philipians 4:13), trusting in the God who says 'Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you' (Hebrews 13:5).
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1 comment:
I used to find comfort in the saying "God will never give you more than you can handle." THEN my preacher debunked it. :)
I remember going home that day after church and honestly, being scared and slightly angry at my pastor. He had shown me that my comfortable thought isn't true!!! I thought, "if my kids die THAT would be more than I can handle, if I become seriously ill yes, THAT, THAT would be more than I could handle." I would think, "none of that can happen b/c I can't handle it."
I soon realized, that saying isn't biblical, like you are saying. I now know, although life may hurt and it may hurt so bad we can't get out of bed, God is still there.
Good stuff
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