What We Can Handle

Maybe you’ve heard the saying: God will never give us more than we can

handle. I’d never thought much about that idea until I found myself in

Guatemala, begging God not to let both of my grandparents pass away while I

was gone.

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My grammy had been sick when I left for my semester abroad, and I’d said a

different kind of goodbye to her. But now my pop-pop had cancer too? How

could this be happening?

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This is too much! I cried out to God. It’s more than I can handle.

In that moment, God’s peace surrounded me like a hug. And I knew that even

if it was too much for me to handle, I wouldn’t go through it alone. He was

with me. My focus had been on trying to cope with the pain on my own, but

instead, I had to surrender my suffering to God.

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The truth is, God never promises not to give us more than we can handle. In

fact, before Jesus went to the cross, He told His disciples, In this world

you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world (John

16:33). And after Jesus rose from the dead, He told them, I am with you

always (Matthew 28:20). It is the strength of Jesus that allows us to

continue forward through a broken world, not our own strength.

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I also think of Paul, who endured an immense amount of suffering to share

the gospel (the good news about Jesus). Paul was imprisoned, flogged,

beaten, shipwrecked, endangered, and the list goes on. Paul didn’t handle

all this by his own strength. Paul depended on God.

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So even when the worst happenswhen the mountains fall and the earth gives

way, when we’re afraid of losing someone we love, when life just isn’t

going the way we expectedwe don’t have to worry about our own ability to

handle it. God is our strength, and God is with us, always. Becca

Wierwille

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Can you think of a time you felt like God was giving you more than you

could handle? How did that impact your relationship with Him?

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Read 1 Corinthians 10:13. How is this verse different from the phrase,

God won’t give us more than we can handle? What would be a more helpful

saying to tell people who are going through difficult things?

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I [Jesus] have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In

this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the

world. John 16:33 (NIV)

Read Verses:

Psalm 46:1-Psalm 46:3; John 16:16-John 16:33; 2 Corinthians 11:16-2 Corinthians 11:33