Christians often say that "God doesn't give usa more we tin handle." What they mean is that the troubles in our lives are measured out by God to be at the limit of what we can conduct. The idea is supposed to exist reassuring that fifty-fifty though we experience overwhelmed, this is not actually the instance. We assure ourselves that we can manage our crises since God has limited the strain to within our ability to handle it. What people intend as an balls is actually a statement about us instead of a argument about God's involvement to care for us.

Maybe this may be true that God limits our troubles to within our abilities, but the biblical warrant for this sort of providence is lacking. On the reverse, I think that God ofttimes overloads people with troubles and distresses so that we will surrender to him. We need convincing of our weakness, disability and need for him. Nosotros need to be overwhelmed so that nosotros will plough to him in our distress. If I could handle the demands of my circumstances as scaled to within my powers, then why would I demand God?

The reason that many people repeat this mistaken axiom is that they misinterpret a argument of the Apostle Paul in i Corinthians 10:13 (NASB 2020).

"No temptation has overtaken you except something common to [humanity], and God is faithful, so He will non allow you to be tempted beyond what y'all are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape too, so that y'all will be able to endure information technology."

The context is clear that the audience at Corinth could be assured in two ways: (ane) their temptations were entirely normal every bit the sorts of temptations that all people have to deport with, and (2) God could be counted on to provide for them to withstand the temptation instead of surrendering to it. This second assurance accords with Hebrews 4:fifteen, where Christians are told to ask God for grace to assist in time of need, and the context is a crisis of temptation to evil. God offers to support his people to withstand temptation when they are threatened with evil. He intends that we cope with temptations (and all things) through his involvement, with him, and non by ourselves. Peradventure the Corinthians wanted an excuse for following what they imagined were uncommonly severe temptations, merely Paul strips that excuse with the assurances of God's provision for them. The people at Corinth (and all Christians) could be expected to withstand their temptations to evil because of God'due south involvement with them as evil pulled at them. The tone may even be a gentle rebuke.

Some other assuring statement about suffering crises in life is Romans eight:28-29, where Paul states that our troubles in this life are ordered by God for the adept purpose of conforming us to Jesus. The assurance is a lens for us to see all of our troubles as God's instruments of our sanctification. Oft the items that cake united states of america from God'south involvement and our being conformed to Jesus must be attacked by God, like the way a surgeon removes an obstructing tumor or a clog in an artery.

Our surgeon-Father uses troubles to provoke deeper levels of humility and surrender in us — the aforementioned surrender and humility that we see in Jesus. As Paul had to take by means of his own distress — his thorn in the flesh (ii Corinthians 12:1-10), we demand to have our weakness earlier we tin can receive God's involvement for making united states more closely joined to him. Similarly, Jesus warns the disciples that without his interest, they can exercise nothing (John 15:1-8). Human beings are created to operate in full dependence upon God's presence and action (dependence that nosotros practice through prayer). Similar individual branches of a grapevine that have no independent ability to produce grapes, individual Christians practise not have it inside themselves to produce God's works.

The convincing that nosotros need is about our inability in ourselves and our total demand to surrender to God's interest with us. Many Christians acknowledge that we try many options to help ourselves before resorting to praying for God's help. His positive intention is to give us more than we can handle! In many situations of my life, I have seen that God orders my circumstances (Romans viii:28) so that I will not be able to handle it so that I will experience badly overwhelmed. This distress is good for me since the near-drowning experience quickly moves me to pray as a kickoff resort instead of a concluding resort.

Therefore, I question the axiom that "God doesn't give you more than you tin can handle" when this is voiced equally an balls that I can handle my troubles. The mistaken use of the axiom attempts to requite hope through God's limitation of our distresses, merely I think God is more involved than that to guild troubles just as he did with the cantankerous, Paul's thorn in the mankind, Task's compound disasters, and Joseph's perils in Egypt. Instead of seeing my crisis every bit having been scaled down past God then I can handle it, I retrieve God has provoked the crisis so that I cannot handle it—then I will plow to him. When I am tempted to trust in my own abilities through working harder, what I need near is God's interest to testify me incorrect. I need repeated disarming that I cannot handle anything on my own. God has created and saved me to exist a vessel and instrument for his works, just every bit Jesus said the aforementioned of himself: "I can do nothing on my ain initiative" (John 5:30 NASB).