The other day I overhead a couple people talking about some of the difficulties they were experiencing in their lives. They ended with the well-worn saying that “God won’t give you any more than you can handle.”
You won’t find that statement anywhere in the Bible. Some think it is a paraphrase of 1 Corinthian 10:13: “The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.” [NLT]
This scripture is a wonderful promise that God will not allow difficulties in our life that we cannot overcome in the power of Christ Jesus. With the test, God will faithfully provide a way to endure the test. We can be obedient to God in all circumstances. Sin does not have to rule us.
But, this promise does not mean we will be immune from trouble. Jesus Himself said that in this world we will “have trouble.” [John 16:33a]
But, as Jesus also promises we can “take heart! [He has] overcome the world.” [John 16:33b]
Maybe we would be clearer if we said it this way. “God won’t give [us] any more than [we] can handle IN HIM.”
