God Won't Give You More Than You Can Handle

13 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.

The best way to know what verse 13 means is to put it in its context. 1 Corinthians 10 begins with Paul talking about Israel’s experience after leaving Egypt.

1 Corinthians 1:1-5 - Jewish History Lesson

Four Blessings

Presence

Under the cloud

Passed through the Sea

Provision

Ate the same food

Drank the same drink

1 Cor 10:6-13 - Learn from Past Experiences

The Four “Evils”

Idolatry (vs. 7)

Sexual Immorality (vs. 8)

Testing the Lord (vs. 9)

Grumbling (vs. 10)

Don’t make the same mistake

Their Response to Christ

Testing Christ (vs. 9) - how is it possible to test God? God had saved, rescued, performed miracles, fed, provided, protected.

They didn’t want the food God was giving them

they didn’t want the spiritual food.

they preferred food given to them by the Egyptians or the one they had to work for.

Grumbling (vs.10)

They grumbled against Moses and Aaron

They projected onto Moses and Aaron their disapproval of God’s way of doing things, didn’t like spiritual things.

They preferred the things of the flesh, that which they can feel, touch, taste

Eat, Drink, Sex

When you’re grumbling and complaining about how God does things and yet you don’t want to partake of God’s blessings then you not very aware of your own standing with God.

This means these they wanted were things they thought free people should have.

Where did they get that idea from?

They saw their own people suffering, enslaved, while they saw free people (Egyptians) worship their idols

they saw free men and women drinking, eating and dancing.

Their idea of what living free looked like was modeled by so-called “free people”.

Their point of reference was what they seen growing up.

God only had them for a couple of weeks like newborn babies. In that short time span He was able to show them:

7 plagues

Opening the Red Sea

Pillar of Fire

Cloud cover

Manna from Heaven

Water from Rock

They grumbled because they didn’t get what they wanted or expected.

-----

When we are free from the clutches of the enemy, locking us down for 400 years when finally we can decide for ourselves how we want to live our lives, if we are not ready to learn from God of what it’s like to live free, we will sink to the lowest common denominator.

God miraculously

Saves us from Satan,

You get out of your Spiritual Egypt,

God baptizes you.

Feeds you - to nourish you,

Yet our idea of freedom is different so when Moses isn’t around we go ahead and indulge.

This is what Paul calls, “Tempting God”

When you turn your back on him almost daring him to leave you just so you can say, “see I told you so. God won’t accept me.”

We tempt God when...

He provides for you, you look for another way to get what you need.

GOD: I’m teaching you how to depend on ME

ME: Nah, it’s ok. I can do this on my own.

GOD: I have bread and water for you

US: I like the food from Egypt better.

Applied today:

GOD: I will nourish you with my word, comfort you with my presence, give you a purpose in life.

US: NO, I want to spiritually grow my way. What good is a future if all you’re giving us is the same old food every day, every week.

What good is it to follow, if I’m not getting anything out of this relationship.

Then we want God to bless our mess, all the while God is trying to get rid of our mess.

This was written so we would not fall in the same ditch.

Israel’s history is there to give us a map of where the landmines are

1 Corinthians 10:12 NIV

12 So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!

Don’t think that just because you are more sophisticated, more educated, living in a more advanced civilization that this won’t/can’t happen to you.

We are as human as they were.

you have the same weaknesses they had.

Just because your’e in Sacramento 2021, we share the same temptation of indulging and giving in to our senses.

1 Corinthians 10:13 NIV

Now Paul directs his attention to the Corinthian church.

“No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man.”

i.e. Every temptation you’ve had is common for humans.

Look at the people who lived thousands of years ago roaming in the desert.

they wanted the same thing we want.

The security to have enough to eat and drink.

The assurance that they are loved.

The assurance that they are safe.

Every temptation comes in these 3 categories

Adam & Eve

Israel

Jesus

You and I

God does not bring the temptation.

James 1:13–14 (NIV)

13 When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; 14 but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed.

Temptation is human sponsored by Satan.

What God does bring is his faithfulness.

God is faithful: Even when we indulge in human temptations.

When we are not faithful to the One who freed us, adopted, fed us, He remains faithful.

He will show you that there’s away out of the temptation.

He won’t take the temptation away. But he promises to go through the trial w/you.

When we lose our jobs we’re tempted to say it’s God’s fault or God is punishing me.

When our finances struggle, we’re tempted to take financial shortcuts, lie, to cover up our condition.

When your car breaks down you are tempted to throw in towel and say, “Is it worth it?”

Then someone comes along and says, “Hey, God won’t give you more than you can handle.”

WHAT!!!

I’m at my whit’s end.

I’m down to the last straw.

I’m running on fumes.

I haven’t had a decent night’s sleep.

The A/C is broken, the fridge is bare

I can’t handle this and supposedly there’s more God thinks I can handle?

What if I get sick?

What if a loved one dies?

There’s no easy answer that will change your circumstances,

But God invites us to change our perspective and see the way out so that we can endure.

Endurance is not working harder, its choosing the where to put your energies.

You will be able to endure, not because you are strong enough, or because of some special capacity to deal with bad things in life.

You will be able to endure when you change your perspective - the way out.

It’s human to go through trials and to be tempted to give up and do it my way.

but by seeing Israel’s example, doing it our way makes things worse.

Trusting in God’s offer changes the course of our lives.

It may be a slow way out, but its a way out.

Giving in to temptation takes us down a downward spiral

God’s way sets us on a path to the Promised Land.

Those who died in the desert, died believing the desert experience was the worst thing, and it was.

Those who were in the same desert, but had a different perspective, trusted in God’s faithfulness, were able to look back at the Sinai experience and see a way out and a better future.

That wasn’t the last temptation. They distrusted God again before entering the Promised Land, they forgot, they gave in to temptation to seek their way, to not advance, to fear for their future.

So, as their concern was, so it happened.

they worried about their kids’ well-being so they deprived their children of “Promised Land Living” and instead they waited 40 years in the desert.

God gives us a way out.

We can endure, but not in our strength, but by believing in the God who shows us a different way shown we only see one.

2 Corinthians 1:3–11 (NIV)

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. 7 And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.

8 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. 9 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. 10 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, 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.

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