Recently on Facebook a friend of mine shared a tidbit of how she was facing a lot, but she was holding onto the statement that God would not give us more than we can handle.
Later, another friend of mine posted that the verse she was referring to was about God not giving us more temptation than we can handle, but yes He often gives us more life than we can handle. He does this so we learn to trust in Him.
I have been pondering this all week and I have found THE VERSE that we often point to when we want to reassure ourselves that we can handle life. It is 1 Corinthians 10: 13, and it says: "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." So, Yes, it is about temptation not about life circumstances.
I have come to the conclusion that we cannot handle life. We truly need to be on our knees allowing God to handle it for us.
I found a great blog post by Keith Plummer on his blog The Christian Mind that brought up this point. "If Paul really intended to make a general statement about God never giving Christians more than they could handle, then we'd have a hard time explaining his own testimony in 2 Corinthians 1:8.9:"
"For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself...But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead."
God does give us more than we can handle, anything can be more than we can handle with out Him. It is in those times that we are beyond ourselves that we can really see the power of God.
Later, another friend of mine posted that the verse she was referring to was about God not giving us more temptation than we can handle, but yes He often gives us more life than we can handle. He does this so we learn to trust in Him.
I have been pondering this all week and I have found THE VERSE that we often point to when we want to reassure ourselves that we can handle life. It is 1 Corinthians 10: 13, and it says: "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." So, Yes, it is about temptation not about life circumstances.
I have come to the conclusion that we cannot handle life. We truly need to be on our knees allowing God to handle it for us.
I found a great blog post by Keith Plummer on his blog The Christian Mind that brought up this point. "If Paul really intended to make a general statement about God never giving Christians more than they could handle, then we'd have a hard time explaining his own testimony in 2 Corinthians 1:8.9:"
"For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself...But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead."
God does give us more than we can handle, anything can be more than we can handle with out Him. It is in those times that we are beyond ourselves that we can really see the power of God.
What are we facing today that is too much to bear?
Let's give it to God; let's allow Him to carry it for us.
My favorite saying the past couple of years, "God doesn't give us what we can handle, rather He helps us with what we are given."
ReplyDeleteI've believed this saying whole heartedly cause at times I really did believe I was given more then what I was able to handle.... but that's where the leaning on God comes in handy. =)
Interesting.. Now you have me thinking..
ReplyDeleteGreat post!
ReplyDelete