The Bible Doesn't Say That - Part 5
God Won't Give You More Than You Can Handle
One day I was whining a bit to a friend. I was complaining
about how difficult life is. How I was experiencing financial problems due to a
bankruptcy. Griping about how much work I was doing and how little free time I
had to spend with my family. Fussing about some things the kids broke at home.
Stressing over the fact that we had one car with three drivers and no possible
means to get another. Fretting about health issues. After I unloaded all of
this on him, he gave me a goofy little smile and said, “Well, God will never
give you more than you can handle.”
I was suddenly like, Dude! Where do you get off telling me
some lame religious mantra like that after I just bared my soul to you? Have
you even read the Bible or is your life just a collection of Internet memes
that have no basis in fact? Tell me where you found that in the Bible so that I
can name it and claim it, because I have read it from cover to cover many times
and do not remember ever seeing any promise like that.
I know. I know. You’re thinking, “He was just trying to find
something to help make you feel better.” More like he was uncomfortable and
just grasped for the first quasi-religious sounding thing that he could find to
say.
Why do we do that? Why do we think that we must fill that
uncomfortable silence with useless noise? With no regard to whether or not it
has any truth to it, just as long as we can pat them on their back, put a smile
on our face, and give a great sounding bit of advice. Like telling someone
hanging from the edge of a cliff, “Don’t let go!” Duh! Great advice. Do you
have anything useful to tell me.
Everyone experiences problems. We just learned last week
that suffering is something that is part of life and we will all go through it
at some point. God allows some suffering because He loves us and loves others
and wants to see us grow and overcome. But does that mean that He will only
allow us to suffer to the extent that we can handle everything? No. Because all
of life ends in death. I think that in itself shows we can’t handle everything
thrown at us.
As we finish our series, The Bible Doesn’t Say That, we look
at what the Bible actually has to say about this erroneous saying.
3 Praise the
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God
of all comfort. 4 He comforts us in all our
affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any kind of
affliction, through the comfort we ourselves receive from God. 5 For
as the sufferings of Christ overflow to us, so through Christ our
comfort also overflows. 6 If we are
afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation. If we are comforted, it
is for your comfort, which is experienced in your endurance of the same
sufferings that we suffer. 7 And our hope for
you is firm, because we know that as you share in the sufferings, so you
will share in the comfort.
8 For we
don’t want you to be unaware, brothers, of our affliction that took place in
Asia: we were completely overwhelmed—beyond our strength—so that we even
despaired of life. (2 Corinthians 1:3-8, HCSB)
More Than I Can Handle
In this letter to the church in Corinth, Paul wants the
followers of Jesus to understand that while in Asia his team was completely
overwhelmed—beyond their own strength. They were filled with despair.
That despair led them to understand something very important
about their ministry. While they were in despair, God was using them to help
comfort others. While they were overwhelmed, God was using them to support and
help others. He shares this by saying in verse 6, “If we are afflicted, it is
for your comfort and salvation.”
Paul was being very real and honest with the church. He
wanted them to know that life is hard. That God has called us to do things that
we cannot do. We are suffering with affliction because of what God has called
us to do. We were depressed. We were desperate. We thought it would be the end
of us. In fact, they tried many times to kill us.
But, all of that was done so that you, the people of this
church, would be come to know Jesus. So that you could be comforted in the
knowledge of your salvation. So that you could be safe and secure in the arms
of Jesus.
God does give you more than you
can handle.
9 Indeed, we
personally had a death sentence within ourselves, so that we would not trust in
ourselves but in God who raises the dead. 10 He
has delivered us from such a terrible death, and He will deliver us.
We have put our hope in Him that He will deliver us again 11 while
you join in helping us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf
for the gift that came to us through the prayers of many. (2 Corinthians
1:9-11, HCSB)
Not More Than God Can Handle
While God may give you more than you can handle, it is
important to understand that God will never ask you to do something that is too
much for Him to handle.
Paul said that they voluntarily gave themselves a death
sentence so that they would stop relying on their own abilities. Instead they
would trust in God who raises the dead.
He is saying that they chose to die to self and live for
Christ. To put aside their own desires, their own goals, their own agendas, and
focus instead on what God had for them to do.
Why would you be willing to set aside yourself and give
complete control of your life to God? Paul said it is because of the terrible
death that we were facing before we met Jesus. Before we repented of our sins,
we were condemned to an eternity separated from God. An eternity in Hell. That
is the terrible death that Paul was speaking about. Yet God delivered us from
that terrible death.
Handle with Prayer
God delivered Paul from that horrible death and Paul said he
had faith that God could deliver them again. From what? From whatever situation
or problem or issue or frustration or struggle or whatever they found
themselves in.
We will often find ourselves in over our head. We are not
able to do everything on our own and we get into even more trouble when we try.
God designed us to be part of a family. A family that helps each other. And God
is the Father of that family and He is able to help whenever we find ourselves
in too deep.
Why would He be willing to get us out of trouble time and
time again? Because of His great love for us and because when He does He gets
the glory. A church that comes together, grows together, and serves together,
brings honor and glory to God.
"God gets glory when people
who dress, eat, talk, and live differently join around the table for a meal
with one heart." Ed Stetzer & Thom Rainer
The church is there to help encourage us, the sustain us, to
help us, to share with us, to grieve with us, to laugh with us, to rejoice with
us, to serve with us, and to pray with us. We are meant to be a part of the
family of God.
How did the church in Corinth help Paul? By praying for him.
“11 while you join in helping us by your prayers. Then
many will give thanks on our behalf for the gift that came to us through
the prayers of many.” (2 Corinthians 1:11). The prayers of the fellow
believers, of those that were followers of Jesus, helped to sustain them during
the times that they were completely overwhelmed and in despair.
Do you pray for our church leaders? Do you pray for each
other? Do you pray for the little children of the church? Do you pray for those
who have yet to come to church? Do you pray for the lost? We are called to
support each other through prayer. To be a part of God’s deliverance of others
by our prayer. God will do the heavy lifting, but we are to lift each other in
prayer.
Comments