More Than We Can Bear

Over the past couple of weeks we’ve really been flying through the book of 1 Corinthians.

Two weeks ago we looked at chapters 5 through 7. Last week we looked at chapters 8 through 10.

And this morning I was all set to pick up in chapter 11, but something in chapter 10 caught my attention. Something I thought was worth hitting the pause button on and looking into more deeply before we move on to the next chapter.

So having looked at 3 chapters at once the past two weeks, today we’re going to zoom in and take a look…at just 3 verses.

The reason I thought this was worth focusing on more in-depth is that these three verses have actually had a pretty profound effect on the Christian church in the modern age in ways that I don’t think are fully appreciated.

In fact, these three verses have created a whole new theology in the church, a common way of looking at life and faith that dramatically impacts our understanding of God and our relationship with him.

So that said…let’s dive in. Let’s listen again to our New Testament reading from 1 Corinthians 10, using a different translation called the New International Reader’s Version.

Paul has just finished talking about the Israelites from the Old Testament who died in the desert during the Exodus without ever having reached the Promised Land. He’s using them as an example of how God’s people don’t always stay “on course” in their walk with God.

Let’s hear what Paul has to say:

Those things happened to them as examples for us. They were written down to warn us. That’s because we are living at the time when God’s work is being completed. So be careful. When you think you are standing firm, you might fall. You are tempted in the same way all other human beings are. God is faithful. He will not let you be tempted any more than you can take. But when you are tempted, God will give you a way out. Then you will be able to deal with it.

As I’ve shared a number of times in the recent weeks, being a Christian in the city of Corinth was hard. It was hard because Corinth was a port city with all sorts of pagan temples and cults devoted to false gods, and that created some theological confusion for the Christians of Corinth.

It was also tough because Corinth was a city filled with temptations. In fact, back in that time the city’s name actually became synonymous with a lewd and licentious lifestyle.

If you were prone to all sorts of hedonistic tendencies, you were said to be “Corinthianising.”

How would you like that? How would you like your city’s name to be synonymous with sin?

In the States we have a city like that. In fact, it’s nickname is “Sin City.” Does anyone know what city that is? (Vegas)

And the city of Las Vegas capitalizes on its reputation. Their entire marketing campaign for the city is built on the assumption that you’re going to do all kinds of shameful things while you’re there, and the motto let’s you know it’s okay because “What happens in Vegas…stays in Vegas.”

Corinth was that bad and actually worse.

And Paul writes these words to both warn them and encourage them. He warns them not to give into temptation, and then he encourages them by reminding them that God will not allow them to be tempted “beyond what they can bear.”

He’s shooting down the argument of those who say, “I couldn’t help myself. The temptation was just too strong.”

Paul’s saying, “No temptation is going to come your way that you aren’t able to say ‘no’ to. When temptation appears God will always give you a way out of it.”

You’ll never be tempted beyond what you can bear.

Now earlier I said that these verses have had a profound effect on the Christian church in the modern age.

But not in the way Paul intended.

Paul is teaching on a very specific subject here: temptation.

But what’s happened is that the modern church often takes the principle of Paul’s teaching and then applies it to all of life, especially in times of suffering and frustration and disappointment.

And what we end up saying goes beyond temptation to more of a general, “God will never give us more than we can handle.”

Which…let me say right from the start…is ultimately true, in a sense.

There is no situation we encounter in life that God isn’t able to see us through.

But there’s a very real danger here.

And it has to do with our perspective.

It has to do with our understanding of God…who he is, and how he works.

And perhaps…most importantly…how he desires us to grow in faith and trust and dependence on him.

So what I’d like to do this morning is unpack a little bit this idea that “God never gives us more than we can handle” and see how our understanding of it can be sharpened and clarified in a way that avoids the danger.

Because the danger is this: you and I are going to encounter situations in life where it definitely feels like more than we can handle.

It’s inevitable. It’s part of being human.

And when that happens…when those situations feel overwhelming and we feel like we’re being crushed under their weight…we can start to wonder if something is wrong with us.

And we find ourselves in a place where we want to say to God, “Lord…you promised you wouldn’t give me more than I can handle…but I can’t handle this.”

What do we do in those times?

How do we respond?

There’s a perfect example for us to think about in our Old Testament story of King Jehoshaphat.

It’s a story that comes from a time when it seems the people of God were constantly at war with their enemies.

And one day the situation gets worse than ever before…because now their enemies are forming a coalition.

Three different tribes of Judah’s enemies band together to attack the city of Jerusalem.

And the size of the army is overwhelming.

And in verse 3 we see the King’s reaction.

I don’t think the New International Version captures it all that well. It says, “Alarmed…Jehoshaphat resolved to inquire of the LORD.”

“Alarmed” doesn’t do the Hebrew word justice.

What it says is simple: “Jehoshaphat…feared.”

He was afraid.

And with good reason. This is the scariest, most overwhelming situation he’s faced as Judah’s king.

And he’s scared.

So what does frightened King Jehoshaphat do?

I think what happens next is one of the most amazing stories in the whole Old Testament.

With a terrifyingly huge army bearing down on his people…the King…holds a prayer meeting.

For all the Hebrew people.

Verse 4 tells us: “The people of Judah came together to seek help from the Lord; indeed, they came from every town in Judah to seek him.”

Later on, in verse 13, we get an interesting detail that even wives and children were present…which is a pretty remarkable thing for those days.

So the King leads this enormous crowd in prayer, and it’s the content of his prayer which is so helpful for us when we face our own situations that seem overwhelming and too much to bear.

Let’s hear some of that prayer again, also from the New International Reader’s Version of the Bible:

“Lord, you are the God of our people who lived long ago. You are the God who is in heaven. You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. You are strong and powerful. No one can fight against you and win…You gave this land forever to those who belong to the family line of your friend Abraham. They have lived in this land. They’ve built a temple here for your Name. They have said, ‘Suppose trouble comes on us. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a punishing sword, or plague or hunger. We’ll serve you. We’ll stand in front of this temple where your Name is. We’ll cry out to you when we’re in trouble. Then you will hear us. You will save us.’

“But now here are men from Ammon, Moab and Mount Seir…They are coming to drive us out. They want to take over the land you gave us as our share. Our God…we don’t have the power to face this huge army that’s attacking us. We don’t know what to do. But we’re looking to you to help us.”

We don’t know what to do. But we’re looking for you to help us.

The Hebrew says literally, “Our eyes are on You.”

We don’t know what to do, but our eyes are on You.

Friends…I’ve been there. Chances are you have, too.

Sometimes life comes bearing down on us like an advancing army.

And like King Jehoshaphat, we’re afraid.

There’s nothing wrong with that.

Jesus himself was afraid in the garden of Gethsemane.

So afraid that his sweat was like drops of blood.

To be afraid is not a sign that our faith is weak.

It’s what we do with that fear that makes all the difference.

And here’s where our theology of “God won’t give us any more than we can handle” is incomplete.

Because sometimes it feels like he does.

Sometimes situations enter our life, whatever their source ultimately is (UNPACK), and they seem too much for us to bear.

But what God does at those times is this: he gives us supernatural ability to overcome whatever we’re facing.

He doesn’t leave it up to us to…just deal with it.

That’s the danger I was talking about.

The danger is that we think we have to be strong enough.

But sometimes we simply aren’t.

Sometimes the circumstances of this life seem like they will pull us under like a tidal wave.

And we feel like we’re going to drown.

I think of King David…who writes in Psalm 6 that he is weeping so much that his bed is floating on a sea of his tears.

How do we respond in moments like that?

And I think what we’ve done with these verses from 1 Corinthians is that we’ve created a line of thinking that says:

“God must think I’m able to deal with this.”

But remember…Paul was talking about temptation.

It’s dangerous to apply the same thinking…to other situations of suffering and trial and struggle.

In Sharon’s latest book one of her characters puts the question very bluntly, “If we can handle our circumstances, why would we need God?”

But that’s what we often think…we think it’s up to us to just push through and handle it.

I think even Paul would say, “Don’t do that. That’s not what I meant.”

In fact, I think Paul, if he were here, would tell us to check out his other letter to the Corinthian church…2 Corinthians.

Because in that book Paul talks about his own experiences of suffering and persecution and even torture.

In fact, right at the beginning of 2 Corinthians Paul is brutally honest about the fact that he and his friends, like Jehoshaphat, know what it means to be afraid.

“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.”

Paul himself says, “I have been put in situations far beyond my ability to endure.”

But then he says this, “These things happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God.”

Paul minces no words here…he says that things happen in this life that we can’t handle. But then he immediately follows it up with a word of hope.

That we don’t have to handle it. Because we have a God who can.

A God who actually gives a direct word to Paul in the midst of his greatest suffering, which Paul records in 2 Corinthians 12:

“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

That word from the Lord totally reframes Paul’s understanding of his times of trial, and it reframes ours as well.

We think, when those times come, we have to be strong.

But God says, “No.”

“My precious child…this season you’re facing now is not about your strength.”

“It’s about my grace.”

“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

In response to that, Paul says this:

“Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 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.”

When I am weak…then I am strong.

Paul is totally echoing King Jehoshaphat here:

“Lord, we don’t know what to do, but our eyes are on you.”

That’s the posture we need to embrace more and more, especially in these difficult times.

It’s a posture of knowing that when we need it, God will give us strength that is supernatural.

In our Old Testament story he does just that…he enables the Hebrew people to overcome the enemies bearing down on Jerusalem.

He does the same for us.

When we come across situations we don’t think we can handle…he empowers us beyond ourselves.

Paul describes it as “Christ’s power resting on him.”

That’s such a beautiful image.

Christ’s power resting on us.

It’s an image of a gentle, loving presence that embraces us and enfolds us when we think we can’t go on.

“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power…MY power…is made perfect in weakness.”

[TRANSITION TO PRAYER—2 Corinthians 1]