I Know I Heard that Somewhere… Pt. 3
“God never gives us more than we can handle.”
When I was growing up, I heard that statement all the time. In High School I was going through a difficult health situation and the older members of my church wanted so badly to give me some words of comfort and encouragement. Unfortunately, as I scoured the Bible, I could not find the verse that said, “God never gives us more than we can handle.” Soon, I became frustrated because it certainly felt like God had given me more than I could handle!
As I read the Bible, I did find verses that contained some practical wisdom. Romans 8:28 says, “We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.”
What is so significant about this verse? It gives us a promise! Paul tells us that “all things work together for the good of those who love God,” which is an incredible promise to cling to.
See, the idea that God will not give us more than we can handle may not be found in scripture, but what is found in scripture is a reminder that God is working all things together for good and that God is with us in all of these hard situations.
Joseph is a great example of this. He is sold into slavery by his brothers for the equivalent of a couple hundred dollars. His brothers genuinely only made the equivalent of about 20 dollars a person by selling him. He then suffered as a slave in Egypt, he was imprisoned in a literal pit with chains on his body, he was forgotten about in the pit, and then he was finally raised out of it! God had used all of his suffering for good; to accomplish what God intended.
In Genesis 50:20, Joseph has the opportunity to speak to his brothers who expect to be killed out of revenge! Rather than condemning his brothers as the liars, cheats, and evil men that they were, Joseph said, “You planned evil against me; God planned it for good to bring about the present result—the survival of many people.”
God did not keep Joseph from going through hardship, but rather, God used it for good! When someone is hurting and is wondering why God would let this happen, this is the truth that we need to remind them of. Rather than saying something like, “God won’t give you too much to handle,” we should say, “God is with you in this and God will use it for good.”
God will let us go through tests that are difficult and that stretch us past what we ever believed we could handle! But, in the end, we will always make it through because God is with us and because God will use our trials for good. It may not be our good, but it will be for the good that God has intended!
-Pastor Daniel