“God will never give you more than you can handle.” I can’t tell you how many times this phrase has been uttered to me throughout my life. My guess is you have heard or even used this phrase yourself at some point in time. The phrase undoubtedly comes from the right heart. The only problem is the message communicated is wrong.
Even the most blessed of lives will have a fair share of moments that push a person beyond their breaking point. Life is hard sometimes and humanity is nothing if not fragile. We all have limited resources, emotionally, physically, financially, etc. Whether through the consequence of our own choices or the effects of the actions of those around us, we all have moments, and even seasons, when we find ourselves out of our proverbial depth. Often, we find ourselves with more than we can handle precisely because God has given us more than we can handle.
Jesus made a habit of giving His followers more than they could handle.
Jesus made a habit of giving His followers more than they could handle. One of my favorite examples is found in Matthew 14:13-21 in the story of the feeding of the 5000. Jesus spends a whole day healing the sick. As evening approaches, the disciples suggest that Jesus shut down shop and send the people back to town in order that the people might sort out their own dinner plans. I always giggle a little when I read Jesus’s response. “Jesus replied, ‘They do not need to go away. YOU GIVE THEM SOMETHING TO EAT.” I can only imagine the looks on the disciples faces. It had to be priceless! The disciples inform Jesus that the task is beyond their ability, saying, “We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish.” Jesus clearly gave the disciples more than they could handle.
Part of the problem with the idea that God won’t give you more than you can handle is that it puts the power in the wrong place. It infers that everything will be OK if you just work hard enough and push through because YOU are enough all by yourself. It fits nicely with our western ideas of individualism and our drive to be our ideal selves. Unfortunately, though, it stands in direct opposition to the truth of the gospel. Jesus came because we are NOT enough in and of ourselves. In our own strength, through our own efforts, life will always end up being more than we can handle.
A corrected version of our phrase might be, “God will never give you more than HE can handle.” That seems to be what Jesus was trying to teach His disciples when He instructed them to feed 5000 people with a Happy Meal. Jesus knew full-well that the resources the disciples had were not sufficient to meet the demands of the moment. Jesus also knew exactly what HE was going to do to fill in where they were lacking. It was more than the disciples could manage, but Jesus had more than enough to handle the issue. And, in His grace, He extended an invitation for the disciples to both witness and participate in what He was doing.
What God is doing is inviting us to trust Him. He is reminding us that though we are often overwhelmed and incapable of handling the struggles and stresses of life, He has more than enough to sustain us in all situations.
There are numerous examples like this one throughout the life of Jesus and the Bible at large. God has a history of asking more of His people than they can handle on their own, but God isn’t setting us up for failure. Let’s be honest, not much set-up is required; we’re quite good at finding ways to fall short on our own. What God is doing is inviting us to trust Him. He is reminding us that though we are often overwhelmed and incapable of handling the struggles and stresses of life, He has more than enough to sustain us in all situations.
God’s grace is made perfect in our weakness (2 Cor. 12:9). When we admit our shortcomings, God shows up and shows out. God absolutely gives us more than we can handle. When He does, He is inviting us to trust in His power and presence and to watch as He works beyond anything we could imagine in our own strength.
