Who is handling your life? - encouragement for today

[Aoife]

"God never gives us more than we can handle"

"Well, I wish He wouldn't trust me so much!"

You've all heard that phrase, and perhaps it's witty reply probably quite often. It is true though? Is that Biblical? I personally don't think it is. The only verse I find talking about God not giving you more of something than you can bear is 1 Cor 10:13 (NIV) 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.

Is that talking about circumstances we face though? No, it isn't. It's talking about temptation, which the Bible is clear about God not tempting anyone Himself. I am not talking about temptation today though.

But what about that first phrase, Him not giving us more than we can bear...we so often think of it meaning our circumstances will not be more than we can bear...let's look at this verse Paul writes:

2 Cor 1:8 (NIV) 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.

Some other versions offer this translation "We were crushed and overwhelmed beyond our ability to endure, and we thought we would never live through it." (NLT)

or "For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself." (ESV)

and for those who need a King James version "that we were pressed out of measure, above strength, so that we despaired even of life."

Does that sound like something that could be handled in our own strength? No, it does not. How then are we to endure? The key is in the very next verse Paul writes 2 Cor 1:9 (NIV) "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. v10 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"
God can raise the dead, can He not work on our behalf on our situation? When we do things in our own strength, we can fail. God can not fail.

Going through such circumstances is never easy or fun, but it is in those moments that God can comfort us, show Himself faithful and trustworthy to us, and work out His plans and purposes in us and through us.

Look at the beginning of Paul's letter to the Corinthian church, 2 Cor 1:3 "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. 5 For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ. 6 If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer."

We share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ...we only want to share in the comfort of Christ. These things happen and allow God not just to work out something in our own lives but the lives of others through us. It is two fold, God works ALL things together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purposes, we know this, so when we go through these circumstances where we despair even of life, He can work in us something to make us more into His image. He can also work out something in us to use for future ministry to those around us when they are suffering. So often I have heard people say they were only going through something for someone else's benefit somewhere down the line and I think that's only part of it, God is always working on us to if we open ourselves up to seeing what it is.

When you are going through circumstances that are far beyond your ability to endure, remember that you don't have to do it alone. Paul had people praying for him 2 Cor 1:11 "as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many."
Have others praying with you, we will all rejoice with you in seeing God move on your behalf.

I am praying today for all who feel like they are under this great pressure. May you be comforted by God today and lean on Him as He directs your steps through the difficult places.  

[Aquatic_blue]

I know a lot of people say that the phrase, "God never gives us more than we can handle," is not true, but according to Biblical statement, that phrase is true:

1 Corinthians 10:13 NIV:

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.

*If God has said that we won't be tempted beyond what we can bear - I can see this applying to other principles. Let's think about Job and about how Satan was given permission to try and make Job fall and could do anything besides kill Job. Therefore, Satan had him lose everything and become incredibly ill. Job realized that God was his only way out. Now, Job wasn't being tempted - he was a faithful man and that is why Satan wanted to try to turn him around, and God allowed it. Job was able to bear with it because he had God in his life, but it was far from easy.

God won't give us more than we can handle because we can do everything through Christ!:

Philippians 4:13 KJV:

I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

*Since we can do anything through Christ - we are able to get through any situation if Christ wills it, and if we confide in Him. We aren't to rely on ourselves anyway:

Proverbs 3:5 KJV:

Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.

*Just because something in life has got us feeling depressed, upset, angry, or enraged doesn't mean that God doesn't have an escape route planned. That escape route may be the narrow path so we don't always see it first time around. Therefore, God doesn't give us more than we can handle because we are to lean on Him for answers to our problems whether they be physical, spiritual, emotional, or mental.

I don't understand how you can say that, "God will never give us more than we can handle isn't Biblical." and that it only means in temptation that's true, but you post the verses to prove that "God will never give us more than we can handle is Biblical," and that we shouldn't "rely on our own strength", which is a Biblical aspect of proof that "God will never give us more than we can handle." I can't help but say that you don't seem neither pro or con/for or against this subject matter and choose to remain neutral, and possibly a little bit at war with yourself here. What are you trying to get at exactly? Figured I'd ask for more clarification.  

[Aoife]

Aquatic_blue

I don't understand how you can say that, "God will never give us more than we can handle isn't Biblical." and that it only means in temptation that's true, but you post the verses to prove that "God will never give us more than we can handle is Biblical," and that we shouldn't "rely on our own strength", which is a Biblical aspect of proof that "God will never give us more than we can handle." I can't help but say that you don't seem neither pro or con/for or against this subject matter and choose to remain neutral, and possibly a little bit at war with yourself here. What are you trying to get at exactly? Figured I'd ask for more clarification.

I assure you I am not at war with myself, or neutral.
This is what I was saying, we can NOT do it in our own strength. Difficult circumstances are there for us to draw on God, not ourselves, within ourselves we don't have the resources to sustain ourselves.

I thought it was clear here, sorry if it confused you.

This statement is said to everyone all the time, those with a personal relationship with God and those without, but I still stand by my ascertation that it isn't true. We ARE given more than we can handle (even Job) to draw on God's strength (again, the verse you used, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me) and not our own.

Does this clarify for you what I was saying?  

[Aquatic_blue]

Aoife

Aquatic_blue

I don't understand how you can say that, "God will never give us more than we can handle isn't Biblical." and that it only means in temptation that's true, but you post the verses to prove that "God will never give us more than we can handle is Biblical," and that we shouldn't "rely on our own strength", which is a Biblical aspect of proof that "God will never give us more than we can handle." I can't help but say that you don't seem neither pro or con/for or against this subject matter and choose to remain neutral, and possibly a little bit at war with yourself here. What are you trying to get at exactly? Figured I'd ask for more clarification.

I assure you I am not at war with myself, or neutral.
This is what I was saying, we can NOT do it in our own strength. Difficult circumstances are there for us to draw on God, not ourselves, within ourselves we don't have the resources to sustain ourselves.

I thought it was clear here, sorry if it confused you.

This statement is said to everyone all the time, those with a personal relationship with God and those without, but I still stand by my ascertation that it isn't true. We ARE given more than we can handle (even Job) to draw on God's strength (again, the verse you used, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me) and not our own.

Does this clarify for you what I was saying?

I apologize that I do not see how you clarify yourself here. If we're given an escape and can rely on God - then he won't give us more than we can handle. Even death is something that we are able to handle through God when that's the end of our physical life and the beginning of our true spiritual life.  

[Aoife]

2 Cor 1:8 (NIV) 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.

Does that sound like something that could be handled in our own strength? No, it does not. How then are we to endure? The key is in the very next verse Paul writes 2 Cor 1:9 (NIV) "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. v10 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"

Read what I wrote again. We CAN endure with God, without we can NOT.
This is to encourage those struggling to rely on God's strength, not their own.
We go through these things "that we might not rely on ourselves but on God."

To blindly say "we aren't given more than we can handle" is a disservice to God I think, because what about those who DO struggle wih what life throws at them and it shows? Even Christians can experience depression, split personalities, even demonic oppression...if life weren't sometimes more than we are able to handle, why would these things occur? Why would we need God? Those are NOT from God...they occur because we don't always seek to draw our strength from God. We don't start our walk with the Lord spiritually mature, it's a process...and sometimes even more mature Christians go through stuff that's so difficult it takes the focus off God's provision/comfort in those times and our focus becomes on our hurt/need/despair. Faith takes focus, it has to be intentional, it doesn't happen on it's own.

When I first was saved, it took me years of renewing my mind (Rom 12:2) to feel like I was forgiven, that I was accepted, that I was the new creature God said I was right away...not because I wasn't, but because I came with a lot of baggage from my life that kept me from believing/experiencing Him like I do now. I am certain that in several years, even next year, even next week I will have a better understanding of Him, and who I am in Him than I do now.

We don't START instantly relying on God's strength just because we know Him now...it takes building a relationship and developing a trust to be able to do that; I have that now with God, but I didn't at first. I STILL have to guard against relying on myself to take care of myself! I think that is a life-long process...our flesh is never going to sit back and not want to take control, which is why we have to continue to walk by the Spirit and not in our flesh.

I come from a family of depression. I tried to kill myself when I was 14 or 15. My Mom and sister who don't have a relationship with God (yet!) still struggle with it, but I have been set free thanks to God, not myself. I felt unloved and unaccepted, mostly worthless most of my life it seems. My marriage was originally an abusive one, it wasn't good at all to say the least. Praise to God that it is so strong now. My husband is becoming a christian counseling pastor and leads men's devotions and loves me as Christ loved the church...
I say all this to say this...I was saved but had no resources within me to draw on for awhile...actually, within myself, apart from God, I still have no resources to draw on!

I think a better phrase would be to say "We aren't given more than God can handle." 3nodding

I hope this helps explain where I was coming from. ^_^  

[Aquatic_blue]

Aoife

2 Cor 1:8 (NIV) 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.

Does that sound like something that could be handled in our own strength? No, it does not. How then are we to endure? The key is in the very next verse Paul writes 2 Cor 1:9 (NIV) "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. v10 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"

Read what I wrote again. We CAN endure with God, without we can NOT.
This is to encourage those struggling to rely on God's strength, not their own.
We go through these things "that we might not rely on ourselves but on God."

To blindly say "we aren't given more than we can handle" is a disservice to God I think, because what about those who DO struggle wih what life throws at them and it shows? Even Christians can experience depression, split personalities, even demonic oppression...if life weren't sometimes more than we are able to handle, why would these things occur? Why would we need God? Those are NOT from God...they occur because we don't always seek to draw our strength from God. We don't start our walk with the Lord spiritually mature, it's a process...and sometimes even more mature Christians go through stuff that's so difficult it takes the focus off God's provision/comfort in those times and our focus becomes on our hurt/need/despair. Faith takes focus, it has to be intentional, it doesn't happen on it's own.

When I first was saved, it took me years of renewing my mind (Rom 12:2) to feel like I was forgiven, that I was accepted, that I was the new creature God said I was right away...not because I wasn't, but because I came with a lot of baggage from my life that kept me from believing/experiencing Him like I do now. I am certain that in several years, even next year, even next week I will have a better understanding of Him, and who I am in Him than I do now.

We don't START instantly relying on God's strength just because we know Him now...it takes building a relationship and developing a trust to be able to do that; I have that now with God, but I didn't at first. I STILL have to guard against relying on myself to take care of myself! I think that is a life-long process...our flesh is never going to sit back and not want to take control, which is why we have to continue to walk by the Spirit and not in our flesh.

I come from a family of depression. I tried to kill myself when I was 14 or 15. My Mom and sister who don't have a relationship with God (yet!) still struggle with it, but I have been set free thanks to God, not myself. I felt unloved and unaccepted, mostly worthless most of my life it seems. My marriage was originally an abusive one, it wasn't good at all to say the least. Praise to God that it is so strong now. My husband is becoming a christian counseling pastor and leads men's devotions and loves me as Christ loved the church...
I say all this to say this...I was saved but had no resources within me to draw on for awhile...actually, within myself, apart from God, I still have no resources to draw on!

I think a better phrase would be to say "We aren't given more than God can handle." 3nodding

I hope this helps explain where I was coming from. ^_^

The part that confuses me is that you just said that, "We CAN endure with God, without we can NOT." So doesn't that support the fact "God wouldn't give us more than we can handle?" Handling a situation is to endure it, and find a solution with God's help. What I didn't understand is your conflicting ideas. I see where you're getting at, but it doesn't make sense.

The phrase, "We aren't given more than we can handle." isn't a disservice to God, because we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us (Philippians 4:13). This all requires that we rely on God's strength that He gives us and not our own. These subjects go hand in hand with each other.

I can only understand if you would consider this a disservice to God if you have heard someone say, "We aren't given more than we can handle." in a manner where they underestimate God's abilities or they see themselves as God. If that's the case, then that's a twisted mind set from some people. There are some feel good Christians that use this verse for their own benefit and to avoid rough topics. However, I use that phrase because it's true and we are to rely on the God to help us through the storm. I also realize that God can do whatever His will is in my life and I know he won't give me more than I can bear.

Sometimes we may have situations where we feel like it's too much whether it's physically, emotionally, mentally, or spiritually, but if we step back and look at the big picture - God can help us out with it. There's been testimonies of individuals such as prostitutes, drug dealers, murderers, and people who have made some terrible mistakes in their life. The physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual toll of that lifestyle is something some people get rid of their life over, but that is not necessary because there have been people who have found God in those times. Sometimes people need to hit rock bottom before they realize they need Jesus to lift them up. If we rely on God, we can get out of a situation or lifestyle that is troublesome and overwhelming.

We will all have struggles in life:

Matthew 5:45 NIV:

He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

*Those who are evil will have their good and bad days and so will the good. We will all have our struggles - no matter who we are. Some may have different struggles than others, but they will happen. God guarantees that we will have struggles because we believe in Him:

2 Timothy 3:12 - 13 NIV:

In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil men and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.

*That indeeds sounds like we'll all have struggles to me.

Christians can experience a lot of things because we will have our struggles, and so will those who don't believe in God. Like in the story of JOb - Job was a faithful man and God allowed Satan to try and make Job fall. Job had a nightmare happen to him - losing everything and on top of that falling ill. That couldn't have been easy. Sometimes even the most faithful are tested by Satan. Satan is good at picking at our weakest points to make us fall. Just because we are Christian, doesn't mean that we are invincible and unfortunate life events won't happen to us. Being Christian doesn't guarantee that we will have a life of bliss. Actually, being Christian comes with some harsh truths - like knowing we will be persecuted and that not everyone will like us. These are things we eventually need to learn to accept.

You are basically saying that physical, mental, and emotional sickness can't possibly be from God. I strongly agree with this because I believe that sometimes he uses illness to make people realize they need God more than ever. At times, if someone needs an organ transplant and God has them meet someone they would never expected to be a match and out of love, that person gives up an organ for that person. Someone who has an illness in life that effects their life in many ways realize that God is the one keeping them in alive. Even if it's a one time sickness or injury that someone almost dies from or does die from for a moment and feel God's love and peace and then comes back - sometimes it turns that person's life around to God completely. Good can come out of illness, especially if you believe in God and know that if you were to die from that illness - eternal life is still headed your way. Sometimes people who are ill and happy all the time because they have God give others a reason to appreciate their health or to be happier because they realize they don't have it as bad as others do in this world. Good can come from these things.

Demonic things are definitely not from God. There's a difference between things like possession and PTSD or depression, though. They aren't one and the same. Demonic things can happen if people dive into certain things they aren't supposed to or become interested in certain practices of that type or have something that's trying to affect them. However, these things can be overcome through God.

Yes, becoming a Christian is a definite process. Even if one were to study God's word all their life - they probably wouldn't understand every single aspect like Heaven or God's peace completely, but will know the answers to one day.

I feel that the rephrase of "God will never give us more than we can handle" as, "'We aren't given more than God can handle.'" is like saying that God has a capability of how much he can handle. This is more than false because God is omniscient - he see's everything we do and hears everything we think and say. God can handle the entire universe at once so putting a limit by saying God won't give us more than He can handle is a dangerous way to put it. God has no limit on how much he can handle.  

[Aoife]

sweatdrop
I have no idea how to say it differently, but it doesn't matter. Maybe others reading this will understand what I am saying and it will remind them where to draw their strength from, redirecting it from themselves to God.

It's funny how we agree on so many things, you word what I say slightly different, but I don't think we are really disagreeing here on most things.

I do disagree with your thought process of making the phase "God never gives us more than He can handle" as placing a limit on God though. I find the idea of limiting God ridiculous, just as I find the idea of ever fully understanding Him this side of heaven ridiculous. I feel that more to mean that there is of course nothing we can't get through with Him, we completely agree on this.
you say

Quote:

If we rely on God, we can get out of a situation or lifestyle that is troublesome and overwhelming.

I completely agree with this still. It's only when we DO NOT rely on God we are able to be overwhelmed. This is what Paul was saying in the original verse I started with too.

Bless you Aquatic_blue  

[Aquatic_blue]

Quote:

I do disagree with your thought process of making the phase "God never gives us more than He can handle" as placing a limit on God though. I find the idea of limiting God ridiculous, just as I find the idea of ever fully understanding Him this side of heaven ridiculous. I feel that more to mean that there is of course nothing we can't get through with Him, we completely agree on this.

This is what I actually said (perhaps this part wasn't clear) I do not believe that we are in agreement:

Aquatic_blue

I feel that the rephrase of "God will never give us more than we can handle" as, "'We aren't given more than God can handle.'" is like saying that God has a capability of how much he can handle. This is more than false because God is omniscient - he see's everything we do and hears everything we think and say. God can handle the entire universe at once so putting a limit by saying God won't give us more than He can handle is a dangerous way to put it. God has no limit on how much he can handle.

This is a rebuttal to the phrase that you said earlier at the end of your post. I believe that maybe you and I are standing on two different pillars of a single idea, which you may see as working slightly together, when in fact they are not. Though you are entitled to your own opinion. More so, I would appreciate if you would quote my whole sentence rather than possibly short-changing the sentence, where it could be misinterpreted.

In general, we should always F.R.O.G. = Forever Rely On God.  

[Aoife]

I understand what you said completely. I wasn't misunderstanding anything.
Clearly we disagree over nit-picky things. Certainly nothing I care to keep going on about.