I hear that phrase a lot, "God will never give you more than you handle." People think it's from the Bible, but in reality, it's a misquote of 1 Corinthians 10:13 which states, "God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear."
Allowing you to be tempted and just dropping a load of crap in your lap to try and handle - two very different things. Paul's statement refers to being tempted to sin, being tempted to take the easy road instead of the more difficult, yet right, path. It has nothing - I'll repeat that - nothing - to do with the amount of stress, strain, and hardship that gets dumped upon you in life.
After all, if God doesn't give us more than we can handle, then why do people get pushed over the edge every day? Even the best of us are not immune to being pushed so far, we finally have a mental breakdown. Finally have that time when we're too exhausted and too overwrought to deal with some of life's situations anymore. Whether its pain, health, legal troubles, work stress, personal problems, family issues, financial issues, grief, or perhaps some combination of all these, people get pushed beyond what they can bear on a daily basis. Everyone is different. Everyone has a level they can handle that is not comparable to someone else's.
The Bible even has examples of people being pushed beyond their limits. Elijah couldn't handle being a prophet of God anymore. He'd raised people from the dead, struggled through famine, and had his ultimate show-down with the prophets of Baal, but when Jezebel came after him - that was his breaking point. He nearly died of thirst and starvation making his way to a cave where he went into hiding from Ahab and Jezebel who were trying to kill him. Only an angel from God swooping down and providing him with a piece of cake and a jar of water staved off death. God recognized - the prophet had been pushed too far. He doesn't tell Elijah, "I'll never give you too much to handle, so buck up and let's go!" Instead, he sends him to anoint Elisha, to become the prophet in his place... then sweeps him up in dramatic fashion into heaven. Elijah had been completely and utterly used up and could no longer do what was asked of him.
One need only read Jeremiah's laments to know he'd been pushed beyond what he could handle as well. Paul even confesses that being beaten, imprisoned, stoned, shipwrecked, and nearly killed more times than he could count displayed his weakness, not his strength. Satan tormented him with a "thorn" in his side that Paul begged God to remove, and God's response was, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."
It is in that weakness that we are driven to such places of brokenness - and yes, even despair - that we know there is nothing left but for us to rely solely and completely on God. Because there's nothing more we can do about whatever situation or hardship we are in the midst of.
The question is - when people are driven to that point where they're beyond their limit, what do they do? Rely on God and simply hand everything over to him, or still try to take matters into their own hands in some fashion, thinking they still have the power and control over their life or a situation? People respond to this lack of control in a variety of ways. Some continue to fight and sometimes make a situation even worse as they try to regain that control that has been ripped out of their hands. Others give so into the despair that they think escape is the best answer. No one deals with it in exactly the same way or comes up with the same solution.
Accepting that sometimes you simply don't have that control, that hardships are being sent your way perhaps for the very purposes of beating you down, humbling you, and making you recognize you aren't just going to be able to pull yourself up by your bootstraps is no simple task. I'm the first to acknowledge that. And the first to acknowledge - that sometimes, we are simply given more burdens and problems than it is possible to bear at times without some serious help from somewhere outside yourself. Sometimes there is no 'plan' or way in which we can 'solve' an issue - it just has to be allowed to play out.
But to believe we won't be given more than we can handle is a ridiculous notion that has no Biblical basis. Of course we're given more than we can handle - God's power is made perfect in weakness. Showing our weakness and vulnerability is not the way in which the world perceives strength - but it is the way in which God is able to show his power by taking control - we just need to figure out how to stop fighting against him, thinking we're super-human beings that can leap tall buildings in a single bound no matter what tragedy befalls us.
And this is not to say that faith and God's strength don't help us - they do. They are what can get us through some of the tragedies and life situations we have to face. That still doesn't mean we don't find ourselves sobbing on the floor at times just going, "What do I do now? How do I get up each day and put one foot in front of the other?" Truly - that many times takes the strength of God to accomplish just those simple tasks.
As Paul said - this will sound like foolishness to any who rely upon themselves and their abilities to get through every situation and hardship. And, perhaps it is foolishness to the world. So be it. But if you're looking for the Bible to say you'll get through every hardship without breaking down at some point - it just ain't there.
Allowing you to be tempted and just dropping a load of crap in your lap to try and handle - two very different things. Paul's statement refers to being tempted to sin, being tempted to take the easy road instead of the more difficult, yet right, path. It has nothing - I'll repeat that - nothing - to do with the amount of stress, strain, and hardship that gets dumped upon you in life.
After all, if God doesn't give us more than we can handle, then why do people get pushed over the edge every day? Even the best of us are not immune to being pushed so far, we finally have a mental breakdown. Finally have that time when we're too exhausted and too overwrought to deal with some of life's situations anymore. Whether its pain, health, legal troubles, work stress, personal problems, family issues, financial issues, grief, or perhaps some combination of all these, people get pushed beyond what they can bear on a daily basis. Everyone is different. Everyone has a level they can handle that is not comparable to someone else's.
The Bible even has examples of people being pushed beyond their limits. Elijah couldn't handle being a prophet of God anymore. He'd raised people from the dead, struggled through famine, and had his ultimate show-down with the prophets of Baal, but when Jezebel came after him - that was his breaking point. He nearly died of thirst and starvation making his way to a cave where he went into hiding from Ahab and Jezebel who were trying to kill him. Only an angel from God swooping down and providing him with a piece of cake and a jar of water staved off death. God recognized - the prophet had been pushed too far. He doesn't tell Elijah, "I'll never give you too much to handle, so buck up and let's go!" Instead, he sends him to anoint Elisha, to become the prophet in his place... then sweeps him up in dramatic fashion into heaven. Elijah had been completely and utterly used up and could no longer do what was asked of him.
One need only read Jeremiah's laments to know he'd been pushed beyond what he could handle as well. Paul even confesses that being beaten, imprisoned, stoned, shipwrecked, and nearly killed more times than he could count displayed his weakness, not his strength. Satan tormented him with a "thorn" in his side that Paul begged God to remove, and God's response was, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."
It is in that weakness that we are driven to such places of brokenness - and yes, even despair - that we know there is nothing left but for us to rely solely and completely on God. Because there's nothing more we can do about whatever situation or hardship we are in the midst of.
The question is - when people are driven to that point where they're beyond their limit, what do they do? Rely on God and simply hand everything over to him, or still try to take matters into their own hands in some fashion, thinking they still have the power and control over their life or a situation? People respond to this lack of control in a variety of ways. Some continue to fight and sometimes make a situation even worse as they try to regain that control that has been ripped out of their hands. Others give so into the despair that they think escape is the best answer. No one deals with it in exactly the same way or comes up with the same solution.
Accepting that sometimes you simply don't have that control, that hardships are being sent your way perhaps for the very purposes of beating you down, humbling you, and making you recognize you aren't just going to be able to pull yourself up by your bootstraps is no simple task. I'm the first to acknowledge that. And the first to acknowledge - that sometimes, we are simply given more burdens and problems than it is possible to bear at times without some serious help from somewhere outside yourself. Sometimes there is no 'plan' or way in which we can 'solve' an issue - it just has to be allowed to play out.
But to believe we won't be given more than we can handle is a ridiculous notion that has no Biblical basis. Of course we're given more than we can handle - God's power is made perfect in weakness. Showing our weakness and vulnerability is not the way in which the world perceives strength - but it is the way in which God is able to show his power by taking control - we just need to figure out how to stop fighting against him, thinking we're super-human beings that can leap tall buildings in a single bound no matter what tragedy befalls us.
And this is not to say that faith and God's strength don't help us - they do. They are what can get us through some of the tragedies and life situations we have to face. That still doesn't mean we don't find ourselves sobbing on the floor at times just going, "What do I do now? How do I get up each day and put one foot in front of the other?" Truly - that many times takes the strength of God to accomplish just those simple tasks.
As Paul said - this will sound like foolishness to any who rely upon themselves and their abilities to get through every situation and hardship. And, perhaps it is foolishness to the world. So be it. But if you're looking for the Bible to say you'll get through every hardship without breaking down at some point - it just ain't there.
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