“God won’t give you more than you can handle”

Someone said these words to me this week:  “Well you know, God won’t give us more than we can handle.”

I think she is wrong.  If we believe those words, we have missed the point entirely.  God wants us to have more than we can handle – because He wants us to let Him work through us.

Every time I begin to identify a theological principle, I ask myself:  would a mom in the war-ravaged nations in Africa believe this – would this be true for her?  Would a man in the frozen tundra of Russia find that these words are true?

One thing that I am certain of – my theology is just thought exercise unless it is striving to know God as He is – and He is the same here, in Africa, South America, Antarctica, and Denmark.  He is the same in the palace and the garbage dump-village slums.

We will have more than we can handle from time to time, but God will always be there to give us the strength, wisdom and focus to overcome.  God calls us to relax in His hand and let Him work through us.  He is very interested in letting us be pushed to the point where we cry “God, help!” Because we only truly begin to live when we live in relationship with and dependence on Him.

Where did this thought (God won’t give me more than I can handle) come from?  My guess is that it is a perversion of

1 Corinthians 10:13 NIV:

“No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. 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 endure it.”

God will never let you be backed in a corner where you have no way out but to break relationship with Him and sin.  He will always provide a way out.  He will always be with you, teaching, guiding and correcting you.

However, when life has you up to your eyeballs, remember that the One who made you is much more capable than you are at making your life turn out right.  You can rely on Him to write the next chapter and give you ingenuity beyond what you imagined.