As I Was Saying is a forum for a variety of perspectives to foster faith-related conversations among our readers with the goal of mutual learning, even in disagreement. Apart from articles written by editorial staff, these perspectives do not necessarily reflect the views of The Banner.
*Editor’s Note: This article is the first in a monthly series about oft-repeated cliches. This was the first.
“God doesn't give you more than you can handle” is a pithy saying thrown around in Christian circles. But it’s not in the Bible.
The closest Scripture comes to this saying is 1 Corinthians 10:12-13.
So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! 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.
As always with Scripture, context is key. These verses are part of an extensive answer to the question, “Can Christians eat in idol temples?” (1 Cor. 8:1-11:1).
Eating in pagan temples would have been a huge temptation in the first century. Pagan temples were the restaurants of the ancient world. If you had social standing or political rank, you would be expected to participate.
Just before the exhortation to stand firm, Paul gives warnings to this gentile church from Old Testament history about the people’s propensity to sin and how God did not put up with it:
- V.7: Remember the golden calf in Exodus 32?
- V.8: Remember the Baal worship at Peor in Numbers 25?
- V.9: Remember the snakes in Numbers 21?
- V.10: Remember the grumbling in Numbers 14?
These incidents were written as “examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil” (v.6). God did not put up with sin in his people then. He will not put up with sin in his people today.
“Can Christians eat in idol temples?” After more than two chapters of setting the stage, the answer comes right after the exhortation to stand firm. In short, eating in pagan temples is participating in idolatry (10:14-22). Don’t do it!
Applied to Temptation
God does not allow temptation beyond what you can handle. Every temptation has an escape that God provides. In Christ, we are not slaves to sin. We have the freedom to say “no.”
We have no excuse for sin. There was an exit ramp that we could have taken but chose not to. Neither can we put the blame on God as if God is instigating us to sin (James 1:13-14).
Applied to Hardship
God does not let us be tempted to sin beyond what we can bear. What about hardship in general? Does God give us difficulties beyond our ability to bear it?
According to the Bible, the answer is yes.
The pains and sorrows of life can be worse than death itself. Job underwent sorrow and suffering to the point where he wished he had never been born (Job 3). Elijah was so despondent that he asked God for death (1 Kings 19:4). Psalm 88 talks about being “overwhelmed with troubles” and being as good as dead. Yet it was God himself who put the psalmist in darkness: “You have put me in the lowest pit, in the darkest depths” (v.6).
Paul also underwent extreme difficulty beyond his ability to endure.
We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about the troubles we experienced in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead (2 Cor. 1:8-9).
Let’s not sugarcoat the bitter pains of this life. The reality is that God often gives us more than we can handle. Tragic deaths. Debilitating diseases. Soul-sucking mental illness. Grueling battles with cancer. The sorrows and sufferings in this world are enough to drive a person mad.
I vividly remember being in Haiti just after superstorm Sandy went through. A woman nearby recounted the loss of her house, possessions, and crops from the torrents of rain and rushing floodwaters. In one memorable moment, she concluded by saying, “If you didn’t have God, you’d go crazy.”
She lost so much, yet she trusted God in ways I never have. Only in the Lord do we find the strength to endure. As it is written,
My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart
and my portion forever (Psalm 73:26).
God is not cruel or vindictive. God is our heavenly Father. His goal for our lives is not constant ease and bliss. God wants us to trust him more and more. All the heroes of faith in Scripture demonstrate this. God will send us brain-bending stress and crushing difficulties so that we would not put trust in ourselves but in him.
The weight of suffering is heavier than we can lift. It is strong enough to crush us. But God raises the dead, now and in eternity. Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ himself suffered beyond our comprehension and was raised to life in glory on the third day. He was “crushed” (Is. 53:5) but not ended. He was perfected by suffering (Heb. 2:10). God gives us more than we can handle, but those who hope in him will not be put to shame.
He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us again. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us (2 Cor. 1:10).