Continued from and sort of related to “No, Need To Pray“
You’ve heard it before; “God won’t give you more than you can
handle.” (henceforth GWGYMTYCH) I don’t know about you, but this has
been a very influential statement in my life. I’ve been reassured many
times, when I felt down and defeated, that God put me into whatever
situation I was in because he knew I could handle it.
handle.” (henceforth GWGYMTYCH) I don’t know about you, but this has
been a very influential statement in my life. I’ve been reassured many
times, when I felt down and defeated, that God put me into whatever
situation I was in because he knew I could handle it.
While I was in Mississippi, I was talking with some of the tripparticipants (Hi, Amanda!) and this concept came up. I don’t remember
the exact situation, but I remember thinking “Is GWGYMTYCH really in the
Bible or does it just sound good?” (Kind of like all those Poor Richard’s Almanac
sayings.) The passage I had read in I Corinthians 1 was sort of
floating in the back of my head so I went back and read it again, continuing on to verse 11. Below, I’ve quoted v. 8-9.
We do not want you to be uninformed,
brothers, about the hardships we suffered in the province of Asia. We
were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we
despaired even of life. Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of
death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on
God, who raises the dead.
brothers, about the hardships we suffered in the province of Asia. We
were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we
despaired even of life. Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of
death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on
God, who raises the dead.
It says very specifically, in verse 8, that they were “…far beyond our [their] ability to endure…” It also states that “…this happened that we might not rely on ourselves, but on God…”
Wow. What a radically different idea than GWGYMTYCH. Paul was
under more pressure than he could handle and thought he was going to
die.
under more pressure than he could handle and thought he was going to
die.
I think that the passage we use to explain GWGYMTYCH is I Corinthians 10:13 which states:
No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. 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
stand up under it.
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
stand up under it.
This verse is apparently talking about temptation. You know, because it says “temptation” once and “tempted” twice…
It’s not talking about hardships or trials.
Now, before you freak out and brand me as a heretic, look at the last line of II Corinthians 1:9; “But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead.”
Can we dispense with the obligatory qualifications? No, this isn’t an excuse to be irresponsible or to act without guidance from God. No, I won’t go play on the freeway and expect God to save me.
I’m glad we got that out of the way.
Could it be that God doesn’t want you to think of your own way out; to pull yourself up by your bootstraps? Maybe God doesn’t help those who help themselves because they have already been helped… Maybe God wants you to be so desperate that you MUST cry out to him for help. That way, if you get out of whatever mess you’re in, you can only give God the credit. (See Gideon, David, Noah, Moses, Joshua, Paul, etc.)
