What You Can Handle

Have you ever heard anyone say, while trying to comfort you during a particular hard time, "It's in the Bible -- God will never put more on you than you can bear."

I've heard this rationale so many times the past few years. Curious, I tried to find that passage in the Bible, and the closest I found was the verse from 1 Corinthians 10:13.

"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." 1 Corinthians 10:13

If we examine this verse closely, it says nothing about God putting more on us than we can bear. It says God will not allow us to be tempted beyond what we can bear. It also says He will provide a way out so you can endure it.

When going through a hard time, we are so apt to focus on ourselves. When we look at our faces in a compact mirror, we see only our face - we don't see the bigger picture (our body). When we are going through a difficult time, it's hard to focus on the "bigger picture" while we're in the throes of back pain, dealing with insurance companies, arranging for the car to be inspected and the body damage repaired. It's hard to focus on other things besides a kid getting suspended from school two different times in two weeks. It's hard to focus on this problem, that problem, housework, children, everything, when everything seems to pile on all at the same time.

If God puts no more on us than what we can bear, how does that glorify God? That makes little gods out of us, doesn't it? As though God Himself has sprinkled "fairy dust" on us to give us the power to get through life. I believe that things pile on us and keep piling and keep piling until our very lives and schedules look like a reject from a tv show about hoarding. If we are at the end of our ropes, and feel like we will fall if the One More Thing happens, that is precisely the time for God to answer prayers and make things happen -- not to crown us, but to glorify Himself. 

Where would we be without Jesus our Lord? It is not about us -- our issues, our personal strength, our goings-on, but it is all about how we handle our problems through Jesus Christ. HE provides the comfort. HE provides the safety and strength. HE provides the peace that passes all understanding. It's not about us and how much we can handle -- it's showing our little problems how BIG our God is. 

It is not about how much we can bear. Our shoulders are so puny. We can't handle every ball that is thrown at us. It is about how much of that load we're willing to give to God. 

As the 1 Corinthians passage states, "God is faithful." God has a plan for each of us, and if that means that we have to go through trials and tribulations for others to see how God can answer prayers and provide the peace that passes all understanding -- WOW! What a blessing and honor it is to be used by God to be an instrument of witness for Him.

Praises to His Name.

~ Terrie 

(c) 2015

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