I don't know if this is a saying everywhere, or just here in the Deep South. But often, you will hear people say, "Don't worry about it. God said He'd never give you more than you can bear." In truth, I used to believe that saying myself. And quite frankly, it made me completely mad.
If God said He would never give me more than I could bear, then why did He keep putting more and more on me? More struggle? More heartache? More pain? Less and less and less sleep? I knew what everyone had told me, but my thought was that God either didn't really know how much I could handle (because I was quite near my breaking point), or He just didn't care. I had that mindset for years.
But recently, I was reading my morning devotions and I came across the ACTUAL verse in my bible where it talks about not having more than we can bear. And do you know what it said? First, let me tell you what it did NOT say. It did not say that God would never give us more than we could bear. Period. You can find the verse in 1 Corinthians 10:13. It says:
"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."
The bible says that God will not put on us more TEMPTATION than we can bear, but that, when we are tempted, He will ALWAYS provide a way out. To me, that doesn't sound a thing like the old saying I've always heard. I just LOVE the way people take the Bible and change it around to fit what their itching ears want to hear!
All our lives, we are taught that God loves us and won't give us more than we can handle. But that, my friends, is a load of CRAP! God ALWAYS allows us to have more than we could bear. Otherwise, why would we need Him? If we could handle this life on our own, what use would He be to us? And more importantly, if we could do the work of salvation (which is WAY more than we can bear), why would we ever need a Savior?
God will always allow you to have more on your plate than you can handle. God will always allow you to be stretched and pulled and prodded beyond what you think you are capable of. But it is not without reason. God gives us more than we can humanly handle, because, through those times, He shows us how strong we really can be. But more importantly, through those times, He shows US just how strong HE really IS!!
We serve a God who is Mighty beyond what you or I can imagine. If we could do everything in this life in our own strength, we would never have the chance to see with our own eyes just how MIGHTY and AWESOME God really is!
If only I had realized the TRUE meaning of that verse a LONG time ago. Instead of feeling like God just didn't care about me and had abandoned me with all that He was putting on me, I would have turned to Him and looked for His strength. But I just kept thinking, "Any day now, He's going to stop adding to my load." I wish, how I SO wish, I could go back and do those years over.
So the next time you find yourself overwhelmed, overextended, pressed from all sides, and burdened beyond what you can carry, remember that God WANTS to show off for you! He WANTS to come to your rescue and show you just how strong He really is. He wants to throw open the doors of Heaven and bless you. You just need to look to Him and trust Him to do all that He is capable and ready to do.
And the next time you hear somebody tell you, "God will never give you more than you can handle," go tell them to re-read their bible before trying to quote it.
Let me just say, I truly needed this today. My life has been, let's just say "beyond stressful" lately and I've often wondered why God will allow Good People to go through Bad things. We have been tested & tried for the last 6 mths and it just seems when we are almost able to poke our heads out of all the misery, we get knocked back down. I've always heard this phrase too and thought, what a bunch of bull....now after actually re-reading it...I have a more hopeful outlook. Even though we are not out of the woods yet, there is hope at the end of the tunnel. Thanks Nicole for an awesome blog posting.
ReplyDeleteAMEN, AMEN, AMEN, AMEN! I get so sick of the little box everyone puts him in. I have a few more sayings to add to this!
ReplyDeleteI can tell you certainly wrote this post with God moving your hand, lady! Amazing is what it is.
It is these same sayings that make unsaved people who do not know God, turn from him, because they do not have an understanding of him and the crap we say gets in the way.
I loved this post, loved it. Matthew and I are always reading something and thinking...this isn't how it was read to me long ago. Praise GOD that his word can be renewed in our hearts.
I can speak from experience that God does pull you through your wilderness and he does provide a way out.
Sometimes people don't tell us exactly the truth, or embellish to make themselves feel better. Sometimes we don't hear what a person is saying, we hear it the way we want it to apply to us - possibly to make us feel better. Sometimes we just don't stop and read or listen to God to see what He is really saying. And you, young lady, have shown that you are maturing daily and NOW God can really speak to YOU the truth. One day we may think we know the answer, and then God reveals the truth when we are ready for it. I am very proud to see your maturity in your walk with God - and I am VERY PROUD to call you my daughter and my friend. I love you.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for posting this! I get so aggravated when people comment & say that He will never give you more than you can handle. I know that's not true & I want to tell them to show me that Scripture. I needed to read this this week!
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