INTRODUCTION: Have you ever had a bad day? All of us have! Have you ever had that bad day turn into a bad week? Many of us have! Have you ever had that bad week turn into a bad month? Some of us have? Have you ever had that bad month turn into a bad year? A few of us have! Do you see where we’re headed here? An honest assessment of life shows us that there are times that life as we know it reaches a point where we’re so beat down and discouraged that we don’t know what direction to go!
BACKGROUND: Now when times get tough our friends and family come along side and try to comfort and encourage us, and inevitably some person will utter the infamous words “God won’t give you more than you can handle.” Though their meant to be encouraging, more often than not what is heard are not words of encouragement but something along the lines of… “Cowboy Up, you Wimp”
Now it’s easy to spout trite Christianesk platitudes of bumper-sticker based theology that are designed to make people feel better, but such things do very little good in face of the actual brokenness of our world. In fact when people buy into them it creates a whole host of spiritual landmines that can do intense damage to our spiritual lives…
WHERE DID WE GET THIS CRAZY IDEA?
• The idea that God won’t give us more than we can handle, though not original with her, is most often attributed to that great humanitarian and Catholic nun; Mother Teresa of Calcutta
• “I know God won't give me anything I can't handle. I just wish he didn't trust me so much”
• This sound believable, it sounds like the actions of an “all-knowing,” and more importantly “all-loving” God, and on those really hard days, we eagerly embrace it
• So we buy the line, and then scour the pages of Scripture, looking for proof that this is indeed the way God works… then we breathe a sigh of relief when we find it! (1st Corinthians 10:13)
• The only problem is that this verse isn’t about what we think it’s about, and it doesn’t say what we think it says!
• Now while this verse is one of the most helpful verses in the whole Bible for those who wish to confront temptation… did we get that Paul is talking about “temptation” not “suffering”
• In this passage Paul is encouraging those Christians who are being tempted to return to an “idolatrous” lifestyle – and that God provides a way of resisting those temptations (Acrocorinth)
• Often when we read the text… “provide a way of escape, that we may endure” what we hear is… “when we’re suffering, God won’t let us suffer more than we can handle”
GOD GIVES US MORE THAT WE CAN HANDLE!
• If you don’t think that God will give you more than you can handle, just tell that to a “survivor of Auschwitz,” a “husband who just lost his wife in an accident,” the “girl who was just robbed of her innocence,” the person who is “crushed under the weight of depression and anxiety”
• A point of clarification… to say that God “gives” us more than we can handle, means that He “allows” us to face more than we can handle!
• As much as we’d like to believe that God won’t give us more than we can handle, it’s actually critical for our spiritual life that we learn the exact opposite!
• All throughout Scripture people were handed impossible tasks
• Moses freeing thousands of Israelites, David slaying a giant, Joseph sold into slavery and becoming the most powerful man in Egypt, Daniel in the lion's den, Mary becoming a pregnant virgin, etc.
• Do you think any of these "heroes" of the Bible were in the middle of such extremely stressful circumstances and thought, "Well, God won't give me more than I handle, so I'll just keep hanging on"? We wouldn’t have much of a Bible if God was in the habit of only giving what we can handle!
• No, they relied on God to get them through, and in the process showed that a possible God is in charge of impossible situations. (Philippians 4:13) i.e. all things God wants and blesses!
• In Paul’s second letter to the church at Corinth he writes these words (2nd Corinthians 1:8-10)
• If God is only giving us what we can handle, then we’ll never be dependent on Him for anything
• If God is only giving us what we can handle, then we’ll never step outside our comfort zone
• If God is only giving us what we can handle, then we’ll never grow spiritually
• If we ever want God to use us to accomplish something great, it’s going to require things to be “more than we can handle” God won’t give you more that HE can handle!
• God’s plans are “huge” and if those plans were reliant on human limitations, then He’d never get anything done! Facing more that we can handle (1) Strengthens us (2) Honors and Glorifies Him
WHEN LIFE CLOSES IN ON US!
• God doesn’t give anyone pain, illness, or death. He allows suffering but never wills it; He permits it, but never causes it.
• So when we use such a response, based on a miss-reading of scripture, not only is the phrase a “sentimental claptrap” it’s a lie that slanders the character of God!
• Even Jesus had days when life was more than he could handle – The night before Jesus was executed, He cried out in the garden, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death” (Matthew 26:38). Jesus told His father, “This is too much for me!”
• We see this kind of thing in the Psalms, too. The Psalmists ball their fists in rage, and shout at God, “Why have you forsaken me?” (Psalm 22) In their sadness they say, “darkness is my closest friend” (Psalm 88)
• What these verses teach us is that it’s OK to feel like we can’t handle it, like we are going to give up. We can cry out, “My soul is overwhelmed to the point of death.” And when we do this, we find God—the one who, in the person of Jesus, suffers with us.
• When we become aware that life will give us more than we can handle and come to grips with this, we find a promise: God is faithful to meet us in the mess and in the pain. (John 16:33)
• More than once in life I’ve been driven to my knees, simply because I’ve had nowhere else to go, and when there God met me there, and gave me the strength to move forward!
CONCLUSION: I’ve often trudged through trials that overwhelm me. Ever since my childhood there has been trials that have made me “grow up” pretty fast, faster than I wanted to or should have. But I know I’m not the only one to walk that path, I know for a fact you’ve had your own fair share too, why? Because that’s the reality of life! No matter what situation you’re in today, whether it’s a new diagnosis, financial pressure, a stressful family situation, or an unknown future, you can face fears. Why? 1st John 4:4 gives us the answer… We fight not for victory but from victory! Are you victorious today? If not you can be! Jesus gives victory; Jesus gives freedom… all you have to do is come!
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NOTE: The idea for this series, and some content was gleaned from the excellent book "10 Dumb Things Smart Christians Believe" by Larry Osborn.
