Jul. 14, 2024
“What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.” “God must think you’re strong enough to handle it.” “God doesn’t give you more than you can bear.” If you’ve ever gone through a particularly difficult season of life—such as the loss of a loved one or a major change that’s turned your entire life upside down—it’s likely you’ve heard some variation of this. Though kindly intended, nowhere in the Bible are we told that God will limit our hardships and sorrows to what we can bear. However, we are promised repeatedly through Scripture that God is present with us in our grief and our struggles and that he will see us through them (Psalm 46:1-2; Isaiah 40:27–31; 1 Peter 5:6-11).
“When people say, ‘God won’t give you more than you can handle,’ they are usually trying to recall the apostle Paul’s words of encouragement in 1 Corinthians 10:13.
This passage refers to enduring temptation not our ability to handle hardship.
This passage refers to enduring temptation not our ability to handle hardship.
Why Does This Quote Pose a Problem?
When well-meaning people try to use these words as encouragement, it can be anything but that. It feels dismissive and diminishes the depth of the person’s experience.
It causes questions about God’s love for them, how God could allow this to happen, if God even exists.
“If it’s true that God would not put more on me than I can bear, he must not care about me or even be there because I can’t do this!”
This makes God the orchestrator of all the bad in the world.
When well-meaning people try to use these words as encouragement, it can be anything but that. It feels dismissive and diminishes the depth of the person’s experience.
It causes questions about God’s love for them, how God could allow this to happen, if God even exists.
“If it’s true that God would not put more on me than I can bear, he must not care about me or even be there because I can’t do this!”
This makes God the orchestrator of all the bad in the world.
Life can be unfair
We live in a broken world where bad things happen to good people.
It rains on the just and the unjust.
In a broken world, we make bad decisions and there are natural consequences.
God allows us to have a free will and with that comes responsibility.
We live in a broken world where bad things happen to good people.
It rains on the just and the unjust.
In a broken world, we make bad decisions and there are natural consequences.
God allows us to have a free will and with that comes responsibility.
Job's Example
Job lost everything: his children, his possessions, his health and was tempted to curse God and die.
We would do well to learn from his example, that in feast and famine God is still gracious and still in control.
We must exercise and express our belief in God during the storm not just at the end.
Job lost everything: his children, his possessions, his health and was tempted to curse God and die.
We would do well to learn from his example, that in feast and famine God is still gracious and still in control.
We must exercise and express our belief in God during the storm not just at the end.
How do I apply this?
What can we do when we find ourselves feeling hopeless and helpless?
· Today’s culture instructs us to look inside yourself for the answer. To follow your heart.
· This has left us feeling empty, alone, depressed, and forsaken.
· If we look only to this world and inside ourselves for hope, we will come up empty.
Remember:
· Our ability to tolerate adversity is not a measurement of God’s love or His knowledge of what we can and cannot handle.
· God wants us to learn that we can depend on him regardless of our circumstances.
· God brings us to the end of our own strength to teach us to look to him rather than to ourselves or to others.
What can we do when we find ourselves feeling hopeless and helpless?
· Today’s culture instructs us to look inside yourself for the answer. To follow your heart.
· This has left us feeling empty, alone, depressed, and forsaken.
· If we look only to this world and inside ourselves for hope, we will come up empty.
Remember:
· Our ability to tolerate adversity is not a measurement of God’s love or His knowledge of what we can and cannot handle.
· God wants us to learn that we can depend on him regardless of our circumstances.
· God brings us to the end of our own strength to teach us to look to him rather than to ourselves or to others.
Final thoughts:
We are broken people living in a broken world filled with broken promises, broken hearts, and broken dreams.
The best offense is a good defense.
Things I learned:
Know your depth – don’t put yourself into an environment you aren’t ready for or can’t handle
Have the proper equipment
Don’t go alone
When we learn to trust in his strength rather than our own, we find that we can endure in peace and in joy, even when we find ourselves beyond what we can bear.
When you get to the end of your rope, just tie a knot and just hold on!
Remind yourself:
This is not the end.
God will not fail me.
He cannot be defeated.
I will not give up!
Power Text: (1 Peter 5:6-7)
6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you.
7 Casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.
We are broken people living in a broken world filled with broken promises, broken hearts, and broken dreams.
The best offense is a good defense.
Things I learned:
Know your depth – don’t put yourself into an environment you aren’t ready for or can’t handle
Have the proper equipment
Don’t go alone
When we learn to trust in his strength rather than our own, we find that we can endure in peace and in joy, even when we find ourselves beyond what we can bear.
When you get to the end of your rope, just tie a knot and just hold on!
Remind yourself:
This is not the end.
God will not fail me.
He cannot be defeated.
I will not give up!
Power Text: (1 Peter 5:6-7)
6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you.
7 Casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.
Live Steaming
Groups
