If you have ever been stressed out or going through a rough patch or hard time, the chances are pretty high that someone has told you the phrase “God won’t give you more than you can handle.” While this phrase can be encouraging to some, it is not biblical and not true. We ourselves can actually handle very little. How many times have you felt like giving up or saying you cannot handle something? Probably a lot. The truth is God WILL give us more than we can handle.
Where does this phrase “God won’t give you more than you can handle” come from? It comes from a bible verse in 1 Corinthians 10:13 that says, “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.” Paul is actually talking about temptation in this verse, and not sufferings. However, people take this verse and misinterpret its meaning to “God won’t give you more than you can handle” but actually Paul is pointing out that we have a choice to sin or run from sin. The promise God gives in this verse is that he will always provide a way out of sin, not a promise to only give what you can handle.
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Take the Old Testament story of Job for example. Job went through a bunch of trials and sufferings in a short time period. He lost all of his livestock, children, and laborers. Almost everything he had was taken away from him. His own wife even tried to encourage him to give up and turn away from God, but Job stood the test and continued to thank God in his prayers. Why did Job have to go through all of these sufferings? To test his faithfulness to God and his righteousness. Job would not have been able to handle everything on his own. The sufferings he had to endure were awful, he tore his clothes and shaved his head out of mourning from his sufferings. Maybe not to the extreme of Job, but there will be times in this life where we will be given circumstances that we cannot handle on our own, and that is okay. We will go through sufferings or carry heavy burdens on our shoulders but we are given these burdens and sufferings so we will come to God and trust in Him and his will for our life. “We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself. 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” 2 Corinthians 1:8-9. Relying on God can take away the heavy burdens and despair instead of relying on yourself.
If you ran into Job after all of these sufferings happened to him, would you tell him that it is okay because God will not give you more than you can handle? Many people use this phrase to encourage others, but it can actually be hurtful to many people as well. If you tell someone God won’t give you more than you can handle to someone who is hurt and suffering, it will only make it worse. Not only is this phrase unbiblical, but it could make someone feel like a failure for not being able to handle everything on their own.
In Mathew, Jesus said to Peter and the two sons of Zebedee that his soul was overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death and he prayed to the Father to take the cup or burden away from him. When Jesus was on earth he suffered too and pleaded to God. He chose to pray and turn to the Father to take away his burden and sorrow. It is okay to say that we cannot handle something, but we can take peace and comfort in the fact that we can present our requests to God and cry out to Him in our sufferings. When life gives us more than we can handle, we can find peace that God will handle it for us. Philippians 4:6-7 says “present your requests to God and the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Jesus Christ.”
There will be a lot of situations, sufferings, and moments we will not be able to handle on our own and God does not expect us to handle it. In fact, he does not want us to handle it on our own. We have sufferings and trials so we will turn to Him. If we could handle everything on our own, why would we need a God? Saying we can handle everything is giving humans recognition and glory, when in reality it is because of God we have strength, and He deserves the glory. He is our shepherd, comforter, and provider. We can give our burdens and troubles to God. Mathew 11:28 says, “Come to me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” When your soul is overwhelmed, turn to God and he will give you peace and rest. You do not have to handle everything on your own, you do not have to be strong. Let go and let God handle it for you.
