“God will never give you more than you can handle.” It’s what Christians love to say when we don’t know what to say. It is a cliché that we try to pass off as biblical comfort when, in reality, it is anything but. The fact is that statement isn’t biblical; actually it stands in stark contrast to what the Bible teaches us.
The passage this statement seems to come from is 1 Corinthians 10:13 which says, “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.” It is a powerful scripture about how we are free from the control of sin, not a statement on the hardships of life.
There are lots of stories in the Bible where people were given more than they could handle: Noah building the ark and gathering two of each animal, Moses leading God’s people out of Egypt, and David a young shepherd facing the gigantic hero of the Philistine army, Goliath. My favorite example is Gideon. Gideon was charged to lead Israel’s army against the Midianites. The Midianites were a large and powerful army. However, when Gideon was ready to take the men to battle God stopped him. God told him that he had too many men and that people would see the victory as man’s triumph not God’s. So, He told him to send home everyone that was scared and wanted to leave. Gideon did and about 22,000 men left, leaving Gideon with only 10,000 men. But still, God said it was too many and said he should send away all the men that knelt to drink the water from the river. Again Gideon obeyed and he was now left with only 300 men. 300 men to fight a nation! Not only was this more than Gideon could handle, but God specifically told him it was being done so there would be no doubt that God should get the glory.
Some people may still say that there isn’t really any harm in saying that to people, but just think about what you are saying. When you tell people “God will never give you more than you can handle.” You might was well tell them “don’t worry, you don’t need God, you got this!” Does that seem like bad advice? It certainly does to me. That statement minimizes God’s role in our lives. Not only that, but imagine how devastating it would be when you realize you are in a situation that you can’t handle. If you believe that God doesn’t give you too much then it would make you feel weak, useless, hopeless, and like a failure. All things Satan wants us to believe.
You see, if God never gave us more than we could handle then we would have no need for God. We wouldn’t need to have a relationship because we would never need His help. We wouldn’t have to call on God because we could do it all ourselves. In fact, asking God for help would just be a sign of laziness. A sign that you are unwilling to do what you could simply do yourself. God wouldn’t need to perform miracles since that would only prove that we do need His help.
Anytime you utter this phrase you are setting people up for disappointment and disaster. If they take your advice, they will end up distancing themselves from the very One they need more than anything else. As they search for the solution to their problem, they will leave the most powerful tool sitting in the closet. In the end: They may end up finding the answers they were looking for and only see their own power and not the power of God in the solution. They may find themselves falling deeper into a hole and feel like a failure or start to blame God for not keeping a promise that He never actually made.
The truth is God will never give you more than He can handle. Unfortunately for us, He can handle anything and everything; we cannot. Therefore, we most definitely want to have God on our side. We need Him in our corner.
It may seem like a harmless phrase, but it is a misrepresentation of God. It presents us as the heroes of our own story instead of showing Jesus as our savior. Don’t help Satan spread lies. Instead, next time somebody tells you about a hardship in their life, just tell them “I’ll pray for you” and remind them to lean on God.
