"God Won't Give You More Than You Can Handle"

The Bible Doesn’t Say That

“God Won’t Give You More Than You Can Handle”

We are in week 4 of our series, “The Bible Doesn’t Say That”

We’ve talked about “God Helps Those Who Help Themselves”

“Money is the Root of All Evil”

“Don’t Judge Me”

This week we are going to talk about the saying, “God Won’t Give You More Than You Can Handle”

This is a popular statement that we use a lot to help encourage people when they are facing trials in their life.

When you have a friend who is just overwhelmed and is about to snap we think we are encouraging them by saying, “Just remember, God won’t give you more than you can handle.”

And this is another statement that I believe comes from a misinterpretation of scripture.

“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.”

It says, “he will not let you be TEMPTED beyond what you can bear.”

Meaning when temptation comes your way, He will provide a way out.

We just determine whether we take that way.

And there’s a BIG difference between being “TEMPTED” beyond what we can handle and “GIVING MORE” than you can handle.

And like many of the statements we’re talking about, this can lead to a dangerous mindset about God and how we live our lives.

This statement is similar to when we talked about “God Helps Those That Help Themselves”.

We get the mindset of if we just pull our boot straps up and power through, we can do anything and get through anything.

It’s like we’re living our life with this backpack on

This backpack is full of rocks

Each rock represents the trials and stresses we face in our lives.

The stress of your job

Of being a single mom

The fear for your kids because they’re making bad choices.

The pain of a tragedy you’ve just dealt with.

And we take these things and put them in our backpack and carry them around with us.

Because “God won’t give me more than I can handle” right?

And you can walk for a little while with that much weight on you.

But eventually you’re going to wear down.

You’re going to reach your limit.

And the truth is if we think that God won’t give us more than we can handle, it can affect how we see God.

Because sooner or later you are going to reach that limit of when you realize what you have going on in your life is more than you can handle.

And in those moments there’s a good chance you’re going to respond in one of two ways.

ANGER

Because you feel like God betrayed you or lied to you.

You feel like you’ve done everything you’re supposed to but it just keeps getting worse and you can’t take it anymore.

So you become angry with God.

GUILT

We think that because God won’t give us more than we can handle that there is something wrong with us when we feel overwhelmed.

We feel like we’re not good enough.

Like God is punishing us for something we did or didn’t do.

These are feelings that can have a major impact on our relationship with God.

And these feelings are coming from a misunderstanding of God.

So the answer to “does God give you more than you can handle” is YES!

The question is why?

Why would God allow things to happen in our life that can be too overwhelming for us?

To Teach Us To Depend On His Presence

So many times when life is good we forget about the presence of God.

We love God but we can tend to not need him as much.

But it’s interesting that when trouble hits our lives how we tend to turn our attention to God.

Now all of a sudden we’re reading our Bibles and praying every day.

It reminds of the story of Jonah

God calls Jonah to go to Ninivah to preach and Jonah doesn’t want to go.

So he rebels against God and tries to run from him

And because of that his life starts to spiral downward.

Then after some interesting events like being swallowed by a huge fish he says something interesting.

“In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me. From deep in the realm of the dead I called for help, and you listened to my cry. 3 You hurled me into the depths, into the very heart of the seas, and the currents swirled about me; all your waves and breakers swept over me. 4 I said, ‘I have been banished from your sight; yet I will look again toward your holy temple.’ 5 The engulfing waters threatened me, the deep surrounded me; seaweed was wrapped around my head. 6 To the roots of the mountains I sank down; the earth beneath barred me in forever. But you, Lord my God, brought my life up from the pit. 7 “When my life was ebbing away, I remembered you, Lord, and my prayer rose to you, to your holy temple.”

It was in his DISTRESS that Jonah called on the Lord.

Because the challenge we face when we go through trials and storms in our life is that we question if God is with us.

We think that if God is with us we wouldn’t go through the things we’re going through.

Craig Groeschel said “never let the presence of a storm cause you to doubt the presence of God.”

Because God is ALWAYS there in your storm waiting on you to call on Him.

Many people have truly given their heart to the Lord because of a storm in their life.

I know someone who was not living for the Lord and was doing things their way and all of a sudden his girlfriend got pregnant.

The magnitude of what that meant was OVERWHELMING.

So in that moment he turned to God and said, “God, I can’t do this without you.”

And from that day forward he’s been living for the Lord.

Why would God give us more than we can handle?

To teach us to depend on his presence.

“Come near to God and he will come near to you”

God’s there, he’s just waiting for you to call on Him.

I’d rather be in the middle of the storm with Jesus than living the good life without Him.

In Moses in talking to God about going to the promise land.

And in verse 15 he says this.

“ Then Moses said to him, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here.

Moses is telling God that he would rather stay where they are WITH God’s presence rather than go to the PROMISE LAND without.

That tells me the importance of the presence of God in my life.

To Teach Us to Experience His Power

So many Christians live their lives without ever truly understanding the power of God in their life.

We’re too busy carrying our backpack of problems that we don’t realize that God is right there with us WANTING to take that weight off you.

Look at what Paul says in 2 Corinthians

“or because of these surpassingly great revelations. Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Three different seasons Paul pleaded with God to take this thorn from him.

But God just said, “my grace is sufficient for you”

Because my POWER is made perfect in weakness.

God wants us to understand that again, IT’S NOT ABOUT US!

God wants us to FULLY rely on Him.

That’s why he allows things to happen that we can’t handle.

Or even calls us to do things that are way over our head.

Look at someone like Gideon

“Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.”

Gideon’s thinking, “this is more than I can handle.”

Then God widdles his army down from 32,000 to 300.

You want to talk about stressful??

Why did God do that?

“The Lord said to Gideon, “You have too many men. I cannot deliver Midian into their hands, or Israel would boast against me, ‘My own strength has saved me.’

God was saying, “I want EVERYONE to know that the reason why you win this battle is only because of me and my power.”

And that’s the same reason he calls us to situations we feel we’re not qualified for.

And why He allows us to go through storms

Because when it’s all said and done we are going to look back and say, “the ONLY reason I got through that situation is because of God”

“The ONLY reason I’ve accomplished what I’ve accomplished is because of God”

I’m living proof of that.

When God called me to be a Pastor I felt like I couldn’t handle that.

I can’t do that.

Now God has called me to preach here to adults.

My first response was I can’t do that.

But it’s because I was looking at myself through my own eyes and my own weaknesses.

But God was looking at me through HIS eyes.

The way He looked at Gideon.

Look at how the angel starts off his conversation with Gideon.

“When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.”

Before Gideon did anything God saw him as a mighty warrior.

WHY? Because God was with him.

That’s the key that we mentioned earlier.

Wherever you are and whatever you’re going through you have to remember that GOD IS WITH YOU.

“Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.”

Because the reality is that YOU WILL face trials in your life.

If anyone tells you that giving your heart to the Lord means life is going to be perfect, they are either lying or are deceived.

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

The bible also says it rains on the just and the unjust.

Troubles are going to come. The difference is we have the God of the universe walking alongside us to give us the strength to overcome any obstacle in our way.

But we need to learn to give it to God.

“Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”

You are not designed to take on all the stresses and issues you will face in this life.

The statement shouldn’t be, “God won’t give you more than you can handle”, but “ God won’t give you more than HE can handle.”

Some of you are hanging on to some things in your life.

You’re carrying the stress of your job or of your family.

You’re carrying all this hurt and pain from a tragedy that has hit you.

And God is saying, “TAKE OFF THE BACKPACK AND GIVE IT TO ME.”

Cast your burdens on me and take the weight off your shoulders.

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

God allows us to take on more than we can handle because he wants us to rely on HIM.

He wants to take on your stresses and anxieties.

To show you the POWER you have in Him.

Altar Call

Worship (Prayer Team)