God Won’t Put More On You Than You Can Bear Series

The article observed: “The words hit Ellie like a sledgehammer. Instantly, thoughts and feelings swirled around her brain until she thought she would pass out. Was she supposed to bear this? Was she less of a Christian because she couldn’t? How dare Rebecca speak so smugly and sanctimoniously to her...it wasn’t HER granddaughter who was lying here, broken. Shame was added to her guilt and despair, grief was multiplied as condemnation was heaped upon her shoulders, all in the name of kindness.”

That’s the danger of this spurious theological statement. There are multitudes of people under unbearable pressure, and they have passed by the breaking point. They’re struggling with the death of a spouse, or the death of a child, or a divorce, or a job loss, or a cancer diagnosis, or an unfaithful spouse, or a teenager arrested on drug charges, or a parent with Alzheimer’s. I could go on endlessly. We are surrounded by people with broken hearts, broken hopes, or broken homes. When these broken people hear the statement, “God won’t put more on you than you can bear” they think, “Uh, oh. What’s wrong with me?”

Okay, then, why does God allow me to experience unbearable pressure? We won’t know all the reasons until we see Jesus face to face, but I believe one of the reasons God allows us to pass the breaking point is because:

III. UNBEARABLE PRESSURE TEACHES ME THAT I CAN’T MAKE IT ALONE

Paul wrote in II Corinthians 1:9-11, “But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, as you help us with your prayers.” Paul basically said two important things we all must learn:

1. I can’t make it without God

Paul confessed it got so bad he “despaired even unto death.” His pain and despair was so deep he just knew he was going to die. But then he turned to his heart to God, and thought, “Hey, even if I do die, my God raises the dead, so I’m going to hang on to Him.”

I do a great deal of my research online using the search engine Google. The good thing about the Internet is that it provides an unlimited source of information. The bad thing about the Internet is that it provides an unlimited source of information. A few weeks ago, I simply plugged in the phrase “God won’t put more on you than you can bear” (in quotation marks to refine the search) There were more links than I could trace, but one of the links took me to a message board. And when I read what one struggling mother wrote, I wept. Her are her exact words:

Where do i start? i need a new place to live. i need a new job. i need to be able to support myself and the boys without counting on johnny, who is in self-destruct mode. (two tickets gone to warrant, his Mack truck unregistered for two years, probably on drugs--grey skin, wild eyes...) people don’t want to rent to a single mother with two boys and a cat. people don’t want to rent to a woman with bad credit. people don’t want to rent to a crisis magnet. to summon the energy to look for yet another job (third in two years), and look for another home (third in two years), look for other childcare (fifth in two years) is more than i can bear. the bible says god won’t give you more than you can bear. okay, god, i can’t bear this. i need help.