Debunked: God Won’t Give You More than you can Handle

When it comes to comfort, I am not good at giving it! I never know what to say when someone is going through a rough time. I want desperately to say the right thing, yet all that comes to mind is an overused cliché that often doesn’t even make sense.

I remember one day, wrapped in the side arm of a friend, quietly speaking aloud the words, “You can handle this because God will not give you more than you can handle.” It seemed like a great piece of advice, but it also gave no comfort to my friend. It was simply words floating in one ear and out the other.

Days later I struggled to come up with additional words of comfort, but nothing came to mind. Instead, I replayed the previous advice over and over. As I mulled through them again, I questioned the truth of that statement. Will God really give you more than you can handle? Does he give you any of your difficulties? And what would be the purpose of pushing you past your limits?

It is pop-theology to think that God uses tests and trials to strengthen us. Many of us have even been taught this as truth. We think that every struggle in life is designed to teach us a lesson or correct bad behavior. Every adversity is a chance to strengthen and change the parts of us that are weak. When we go through a rough patch or help a friend who is going through one, it is our inclination to look for the lesson. Find the problem and fix it so we can get past the conflict or sorrow.

Theologically, this puts all the blame on God. It claims from the start every circumstance is handed to me by the God who is controlling me and my life. When I lose my job, is it because God took it away? If a family member is ill, is it because God stopped loving one of us? Is my depression because God thinks I am no good?

Certainly not!

When life is difficult, it is not because God is giving you difficulty. This world is chalked full of sin and human error. This world is not the perfect garden God wanted for us, and the fall out has brought so many struggles we can never understand. God has allowed this fall to happen, but he is not the cause. God allows this snowball of sin and destruction to continue so that we can clearly see our need for redemption. And it is through that redemption we have the strength to keep moving when life gets difficult.

But what about 1 Corinthians 10:13, where Paul tells us “he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear.”? Doesn’t that mean you won’t have to deal with something you are not strong enough to fight?

No. This verse has little to do with your strength to endure life. Instead, this verse is about temptation and our natural bent toward sin. This is not about testing your endurance or perseverance; it’s about your ability to control your own sin. God will help you to deal with every temptation and every desire for sin. But these things are of our own desire. In other words, God will gladly help me to deal with my temptation to judge others. He will help me to control my behaviors so I can reflect a Godly posture. He will not let sin push me beyond where he is willing to walk with me.

But more life circumstance than I can handle- absolutely! And you probably do, too. This culture is pressing in on our beliefs- from the rise in cruel disease to the acceptance of sinful behavior. Somedays it is more load than any one of us should have to bear. And so we turn it over to the cross- our only hope in surviving the circumstances of this life. God will certainly allow us to experience more than we can handle because he has made his way clear. Jesus is the only one who can bear the weight of this world.

So, will God give you more than you can handle? Yes and no.

No, God will not be the source of your trials. He will not put things on you as punishment or to test your faith.

But yes, you will endure things you cannot handle.
Lay them at the cross.

Give me your thoughts!