Does God Give You More Than You Can Handle?

How many of you have heard this phrase over the years, “God won’t give you more than you can handle.”  This gets tossed around a lot. So, I thought it was time to take a look at the validity of this statement.

Many people use this line to try encouraging a friend or family member whenever they are going through difficult times.  And while it’s important that we do everything we can to build up and encourage people who are experiencing trials and adversity, we need to make sure that what we are encouraging them with is the truth.

While this phrase sounds very positive and supportive, you will not find “God won’t give you more than you can handle” anywhere within the pages of the Bible.  It simply doesn’t exist.

What you will find is the verse that is many times misquoted.  In 1 Corinthians 10:13 we are told that, “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. 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 stand up under it.”

It’s very important to understand that God does not tempt anyone.  “Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am being tempted by God,’ for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one.” (James 1:13)

While God does not tempt us, He does, in His sovereignty, permit us to be tempted.  This is to grow us in holiness.  When Paul writes that God will not tempt us beyond our ability, he means that we are never in a situation where we have no other choice, but to sin.  For example, in a situation where telling the truth will damage your reputation, it’s much easier to give in to the temptation to protect how people see you and lie, rather than do the right thing, which is tell the truth.  That’s why there’s no such thing as a “white lie”—one that you tell to protect the feelings of someone else.  We never lie to make someone else feel better, only to avoid discomfort ourselves.  It’s just easier to lie and not deal with the consequences of telling the truth.

Rarely does easy equal right.  We always have the option of doing the right thing, that which honors God, but it will often cost us; whether that cost is reputation, position, relationship, or money, there will be a cost. But it is always worth doing the right thing.  So, it is true that God will not allow us to be tempted beyond our ability to do what is right, He will almost always give us more than we can handle on our own.

Over and over again in the Bible, we see men and women who are given far more than they can handle.  The prophet Jeremiah is a great example.  He was charged with preaching repentance to the people of Israel, a calling that caused him to be beaten, plotted against, and rejected by everyone, even his own family.  Emotionally, that was far more than he could handle, as we see in his many expressions of grief.

The ministry of the Apostle Paul is probably one of the most powerful examples of this truth found in Scripture.  In 2 Cor. 11:21-30, he tells us the following, “To my shame I admit that we were too weak for that! Whatever anyone else dares to boast about—I am speaking as a fool—I also dare to boast about.  Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they Abraham’s descendants? So am I.  Are they servants of Christ? (I am out of my mind to talk like this.) I am more. I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again.  Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one.  Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, and I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers.  I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked.  Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches.  Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn? If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness.”

Paul doesn’t tell us these things to boast in how he took all this suffering and adversity like a man, but he does it so that we might know that God will always give us more than we can handle.  He “boasts of the things that show my weakness” (vs. 30) because those things show his (and our) dependency on the power and mercy of God.

Earlier in this letter to the Corinthian church, Paul exhorts his readers with the following:

“We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life.  Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead.” (2 Corinthians 1:8-9)

What he wanted them to know is that they were so afflicted that they thought they were going to die!  They were burdened beyond their ability, and they could not handle it. But God gave them this adversity and burden so that they would rely on Him who is able!  God is making it clear that we are not self-sufficient.  We cannot just push our way through every situation.  And we cannot force our way to holiness.  We need Him!

In 2010, a new chapter in the journey of my life began.  Within one year, I lost both legs, endured twelve separate surgeries, and struggled through four major infections.  It took an additional year before everything healed sufficiently to be fitted with prosthetic legs.  I have no doubt I could not have survived this on my own, both emotionally and physically, without the power and presence of God in my life.  It was truly more than I could handle!  

So, maybe we need to stop seeing the trials and dangers in our lives as a burden, or as an indication that God may not love us.  Maybe we need to start seeing them as proof that God loves us too much to let us try to rely on our own strength, but continues to show us our need to rely on Him to endure suffering and persevere until the end.  

I would like to close with one last word of encouragement:

“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4:16-18)

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