Last week we began a series entitled: “THE BIBLE DOESN’T SAY THAT”, looking at some popular
sayings that many BELIEVE are found in the Bible, but are not.
1. The first one we studied last week was: “God wants me to be happy.” (If you missed that lesson, you can listen to it in the sermon archive on the GCC website.)
2. Although these sayings sound GOOD and BENEFICIAL, in reality they can be HARMFUL, especially
when they are attributed to God.
ILLUSTRATION:
Before we get into today’s lesson, let me ASK you a QUESTION. How many of you know who Nicholas Sparks is? He is an author of several ROMANCE NOVELS that are made into MOVIES that sell a lot of KLEENEX. Such as: “The Longest Ride.” “Dear John.” “The Last Song.” And,
probably the most popular of all: “The Notebook.”
In my generation, Erich Segal was that author. His most famous book that was made into a box-office hit was LOVE STORY. …It came out 50 years ago this year during the Christmas season of
1970. If you were going to take your DATE to any movie, LOVE STORY was that MOVIE.
The movie starred Ali MacGraw and Ryan O’Neil whose characters were two good looking college kids who meet early in the movie. He is a young BRASH JOCK and she is a SARCASTIC
INTELLECTUAL, and they instantly HATE each other.
The first hour of the MOVIE is COMEDY as you watch these two college kids move from HATING each other to gradually FALLING in LOVE. Then there is about 5 minutes of SHARED HAPPINESS, followed by 40 minutes of TRAGEDY where Ali MacGraw’s CHARACTER gets
LEUKEMIA and eventually DIES. (SORRY IF I SPOILED THE MOVIE.)
In one of the last scenes as she lies in a HOSPITAL BED dying, he expresses deep REGRET. And then she says a LINE that became the most POPULAR SAYING of the 70’s. Can someone tell
me what it is? “LOVE MEANS NEVER HAVING TO SAY YOU’RE SORRY.” Ahhhhhhhh!
COMMENT:
That is a DUMB THING to say! If you’ve done something WRONG to your WIFE or HUSBAND or KIDS, or whomever, you better say you’re “SORRY” or you’re going to be having some real PROBLEMS in that RELATIONSHIP.
B. This brings me to today’s SAYING that many believe is found in the BIBLE: “God won’t give you more
than you can handle.”
1. This is a saying most often used in an ATTEMPT to bring COMFORT to someone who is going through
a TOUGH TIME.
a. But instead of bringing COMFORT, it usually creates greater HEARTACHE.
ILLUSTRATION:
There is a photograph of my daughter Carissa sitting up in a hospital bed holding her BABY BOY, our GRANDSON, before her that she had CARRIED for 8½ months who was STILL-BORN.
You can see the indescribable PAIN in her face—the PAIN of a mother who had everything READY in PREPARATION for her BABY BOY to come into this WORLD and be DEEPLY LOVED
and CARED FOR by his MOTHER, only to be holding the LIFELESS body of her SON.
Do you think the WORDS: “Remember Carissa, God won’t give you more than you can handle”, would have brought her any COMFORT? Or would she have said something like, “Who does God think I am to take my BABY BOY from me just to let me know that I can handle it!”
b. Job said to his so-called friends who came to “COMFORT” him after losing everything that he had, including his children: “I have heard many things like these; miserable comforters are you all!”-
Job 16:2.
2. No, the Bible does not say that “GOD WON’T GIVE YOU MORE THAN YOU CAN HANDLE.”
COMMENT:
Before we get into PASSAGE from where this SAYING has been incorrectly DERIVED, I want to ANALYZE why THE BIBLE DOESN’T SAY THAT.
MESSAGE:
I. WHY IS THIS SAYING UNBIBLICAL?
A. Saying that “God won’t give you more than you can handle,” implicates God as the one administering
TRAGEDY in our lives.
1. James 1:17a- “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father…”
a. Every good and perfect gift that we enjoy comes from God.
COMMENT:
I don’t know about you, but if God is RESPONSIBLE for the TRAGEDIES in my life, the DIFFICULTIES I have faced, the LOVED ONES I have lost, the HURTS that I have experienced,
then I wouldn’t call that a very GOOD GIFT.
I have never had one of those GIFTS on my Christmas LIST. At no time have I said, “For Christmas this year, I would like to LOSE a child in a CAR WRECK. Or to have my HOUSE
BURN DOWN. Or to CONTRACT a TERMINAL DISEASE.”
b. Do you really believe the Bible teaches that God our Heavenly Father heaps one TRAGEDY
after another upon us just to SHOW us that we can HANDLE IT?
ILLUSTRATION:
Do you think that God looks at a FAMILY whose HOUSE caught on FIRE and BURNED to the GROUND losing everything they OWN and says, “Hmmm, they handled that TRAGEDY pretty well… I’ll just RATCHET IT UP and make it more DIFFICULT. Next time I’ll give the MOTHER CANCER.”?
2. It’s this THEOLOGY (kind of thinking) that results in many people TURNING AWAY from God.
a. Who wants to SERVE a God who is RESPONSIBLE for all of our HEARTACHE?
b. This is exactly what Satan, the one who is indeed RESPONSIBLE for all of our HEARTACHE,
wants people to believe.
COMMENT:
He wants us to BLAME God for his vicious ATTACKS against us. Satan is the one to BLAME for the FALL of Man, not God. He’s the one who brought SIN and DEATH and HEARTACHE to this WORLD, not God.
c. God’s CREATION was “VERY GOOD” until Satan in the form of a SERPENT entered the picture and TEMPTED Adam and Eve to DISOBEY God, and that’s when man’s TROUBLES
began. And Satan is still wreaking HAVOC in the WORLD.
COMMENT:
Did God KNOW it would happen? YES. Did God want it to happen? NO. What is God doing about it? He SENT His Son to DIE for our SINS, and He will NEVER FORSAKE us.
B. Also, the last part of this saying isn’t TRUE, either. The reality is, there may very well be a SITUATION
or TRAGEDY in your LIFE that you WILL NOT be able to HANDLE.
1. Listen to what the apostle Paul says about HARDSHIPS he went through that he COULD NOT
HANDLE- 2 Corinthians 1:8 (READ and COMMENT)
a. In 2 Corinthians 11:23ff, Paul LISTS some of the HARDSHIPS that he went through: “MULTIPLE BEATINGS, STONED AND LEFT FOR DEAD, DEATH THREATS, HUNGER & THIRST, SHIPWRECKS, IMPRISONMENTS, EXPOSED TO NAKEDNESS & COLD, DESERTED BY FRIENDS & CO-WORKERS, IN CONSTANT DANGER FROM
MULTIPLE SOURCES.”
COMMENT:
Honestly, could you HANDLE all that Paul went through? …NEITHER COULD HE! That’s why he wrote, “We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure…”
b. THINK ABOUT THIS: The Apostle Paul, this DEVOTED FAITHFUL man of God, said that “he was UNABLE to endure the HARDSHIPS and PRESSURES that awaited him in Asia
as he traveled PREACHING the GOSPEL.”
2. Now, you might be thinking: “But didn’t Paul get through it?” He did, but not ALONE-
2 Corinthians 1:9 (READ and COMMENT)
a. God is not the SOURCE of our TROUBLES, but He is the SOURCE to help us DEAL with
our TROUBLES.
b. During Satan’s ATTACKS, God doesn’t TURN his BACK on us and say, “You’re on your
own.” He is right there urging us to RELY on Him to get through it.
COMMENT:
In my 38 years of ministry, I have seen many of my church family go through horrific TRAGEDIES and HARDSHIPS: The death of SPOUSES; some by horrible accidents. The death of CHILDREN; including a four-month-old that died from SIDS. A MOTHER that was murdered by her next-door neighbor. HOMES burned to the ground. DIVORCES that destroyed families. A TEENAGE GIRL who was raped. Many whom have DIED from horrible, debilitating diseases, including our sister LORI MARTINEZ who lost both of her LEGS, some of her FINGERS, and
finally her LIFE to DIABETES.
We are surrounded by people with broken HEARTS, broken HOPES, and broken HOMES who will tell you that only by the POWER of God have they been able to HANDLE it.
c. 2 Corinthians 12:10- “…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.”
COMMENT:
Paul didn’t say that “God will NOT give you MORE than you can HANDLE.” But he did SAY and even PERSONALLY EXPERIENCED that whatever SATAN throws at us, God will be there to give us the STRENGTH and POWER to help us get THROUGH it.
II. WHERE DO WE GET THIS SAYING? -1 Corinthians 10:13 (READ)
A. Paul is talking about TEMPTATIONS not TRIALS.
1. Although the Greek word that Paul uses for “TEMPTATION” can also be translated “TRIAL” or
“TEST”, the context of the passage will determine how the WORD is to be used.
a. In this passage Paul makes it very clear that he is talking about TEMPTATION, for this entire
chapter is dealing with IDOLATRY and sexual IMMORALITY and the consequences thereof.
b. The city of Corinth was steep in PAGAN RELIGION that included IDOLATRY and committing
SEXUAL IMMORALITY as part of its RELIGIOUS PRACTICES.
COMMENT:
Needless to say, Corinth would be a difficult place to live as a Christian. That’s why Paul is urging the church not to GIVE IN to the TEMPTATIONS of the pagan CULTURE around them.
2. Now, TEMPTATION is merely the means by which Satan tries to cause us to SIN- James 1:13-15
(READ and COMMENT)
a. Satan is out to DESTROY us, and he will ATTACK us where we are most VULNERABLE.
b. We all know our WEAKNESSES and VULNERABILITIES, don’t we?
COMMENT:
I have never been TEMPTED to DRINK ALCOHOL. When I went out with my friends back in High School, and they pulled out a CAN of BEER and offered me ONE, I had no DESIRE whatsoever to DRINK that nasty stuff. That is not my WEAKNESS . . . but pull out of PLATE of
TACOS…!
c. Believe me, I have other WEAKNESSES and VULNERABILITIES that I’m too ASHAMED to even TALK about, but Satan KNOWS what they are . . . and he KNOWS yours.
B. What does Paul say about TEMPTATION in this VERSE?
1. Our TEMPTATIONS are not UNIQUE. Paul- “No temptation has seized you except what is
common to man.”
a. Don’t think for one moment: “I’m the only one who has ever been TEMPTED by this.”
COMMENT:
If I had everyone to STAND this morning and honestly SHARE some of your greatest TEMPTATIONS, we will initially be SHOCKED to learn what actually TEMPTS our fellow brothers and sisters, but then we will quickly REALIZE that many of your TEMPTATIONS is what TEMPTS me.
b. Paul wants his readers to understand that they’re NOT ALONE—that many of their fellow Christians deal with the exact TEMPTATIONS and STRUGGLES as they.
2. God has set a LIMIT on the INTENSITY of every TEMPTATION. Paul- “God will not let you be
tempted beyond what you can bear.”
a. God KNOWS us perfectly INSIDE and OUT.
COMMENT:
He knows our WEAKNESSES as well as our STRENGTHS. He knows how much TEMPTATION we can BEAR, and He knows our BREAKING-POINT. Therefore, God FILTERS the TEMPTATIONS that come our way and allows only those to get through that He knows we
can BEAR.
b. If God were to allow the FULL BRUNT of the TEMPTATIONS that Satan HURLS at us to get
through, we couldn’t SURVIVE.
COMMENT:
Forget about REPENTANCE! There would be no REPENTANCE because we’ll have NO
DESIRE to TURN AWAY from SIN if all the TEMPTATIONS of Satan were allowed to get to us.
I can picture God saying, “Fred can handle that temptation . . . and that one. …Ohhh, no, he can never bear that one. …That one’s okay. I think . . . he can handle the TACOS.”
3. With every TEMPTATION, God always provides a way OUT. Paul- “But when you are tempted,
God will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.”
a. So, God not only ALLOWS the TEMPTATIONS that we can BEAR to get through, He even
provides for us a WAY OUT from those TEMPTATIONS.
COMMENT:
God is not going to leave us to face Satan alone. He will always provide a WAY OUT, if we want out. All we have to do is RUN—LEAVE! Say “NO!” Call up a FRIEND to help us through
the TEMPTATION. PRAY! READ your Bible. QUOTE SCRIPTURE. Whatever the “WAY
OUT” is, it’s there for us to TAKE if we want it.
The problem is, we don’t always WANT OUT, so we GIVE IN and make excuses, “I just
couldn’t help it. The temptation was just too intense to stop!”
Although Satan is POWERFUL, God has given us greater power through the Holy Spirit to
withstand his evil ploys. We have the power to say “Yes” or “No”!
b. The apostle John reminds us that “…the One who is in you is greater than the one who is in
the world.”- 1 John 4:4b.
COMMENT:
The DEVIL can only make SUGGESTIONS. He cannot force us KICKING and SCREAMING against our will to do anything that we really don’t want to do. TEMPTATION is only a SUGGESTION from Satan. INTENSE, yes! But it’s still just a SUGGESTION.
C. But what if we do GIVE IN to TEMPTATION?
1. Prayerfully we do so less and less as we MATURE in Christ, but when we do GIVE IN (and we all do) that’s where the BLOOD of Christ comes in.
a. 1 John 1:7- “If we walk in the light, as He [God] is in the light, we have fellowship with one
another, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies us from all sin.”
b. The blood of Christ never stops CLEANING us of our SINS as long as we continue to WALK in the LIGHT—making it our AIM to be like Jesus in all that we do.
2. Just REMEMBER that our Heavenly Father wants only the BEST for His children. Whatever you go through in this fallen world—TRAGEDY or TEMPTATION—God never LEAVES your side.
CONCLUSION:
