“God won’t give you more than you can handle.” Is it true or false? Most people would say it’s false.
In reality, “God won’t give you more than you can handle” is an accurate understanding both of 1 Cor. 10:13, and the faithfulness of God. First, look at the whole verse. “No temptation has taken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide a way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.”
Some say it’s a misunderstanding or misinterpretation of 1 Corinthians 10:13. They say that verse is about temptation, “not about the weight of our life’s trials.” However, they are showing their own lack of understanding about why we have trials in life, about what temptation is, and more specifically, about the word Paul used which we translate as “temptation.”
What is temptation? Is it the flesh or the devil trying to get you to do something wrong, i.e., to lust, to cuss, to act immorally, to grumble as the Israelites did (1 Cor.10:1-12)? Do you really think that is what sin is? The Greek word used in 1 Cor. 10:13 is “peirasmos.” It means “a putting to the test, proof, trial; also in a bad sense, temptation.” The people of Israel did those things because they were failing the tests and trials of wilderness living. If Satan can get you to commit what we typically think of as an act of sin, he will do it just like he did Adam and Eve–by getting you to doubt the word and the faithfulness of God, and acting on the basis of your own self will instead. “Sin,” at its core, is “not having faith in God.”
Why do bad things happen to good people? If you understand the word “peirasmos” it’s time for a head-slap/”well, duh” moment. Bad things happen to good people because the enemy is trying to make you doubt God, lose faith, and act in your own self-will for your own self-interest!! He wants you to stop faithing God–to not have faith in the faithfulness of God. That is why Paul made the faithfulness of God a key part of this verse. He understood what the tests of life and the temptations of life really are! [“Peirasmos” is translated trial in Gal.4:14; Jas.1:2,12;Heb.3:8 (referencing Israel in the wilderness);1Pet.1:6]
People keep posting memes with a big red circle with a line through it over “God won’t give you more than you can handle.” They say, “God will give you more than you can handle” because they know it will connect with people who are hurting. They have discovered that by posting those memes, they can garner a lot of likes and views on social media. Either that or they honestly don’t understand the faithfulness of God and the nature of temptation and testing. The truth is, if you want the truth, you can’t handle success without God! You can’t handle plenty without God. You can’t handle good health without God. Left to yourself, you’re going to get smug and complacent and forget about God. That is the whole point of the Old Testament. You need God! The point of the New Testament is God’s got you covered! Through Jesus Christ and Him alone you can handle humble means and prosperity, being filled and going hungry, having abundance and suffering need (see Phil.4:10-13).
People who say God does give you more than you can handle are missing the whole point, and they are calling God a liar even if they don’t realize it. I have survived an unfaithful wife who walked away from our marriage for another man when I was in seminary preparing for the ministry. Trish and I have been married almost 48 years at this writing. We have 4 children, 11 grandchildren, and going on 7 great-grandchildren. I’ve survived the failure of a business which I thought the Lord led me into to serve Him, and the financial disaster that went along with that. I’ve had some career and business successes, including 17 years owning my own photography business. I’ve written two books and am finishing a third. In my lifetime, I’ve been healthy far more than I’ve been ill. I’ve survived throat cancer (No, I never smoked or used tobacco, it was just one of those random things). I’ve survived extreme Covid, being intubated for 8 days and so near death that the doctor told my wife he had no hope I’d survive the week. Death felt like a real, tangible presence in the room. I survived all these things and more because God WAS a real, tangible presence with me. Through it all, He has never left me or forsaken me. He IS faithful, and with every temptation, test, or trial, proved Himself to me. And He gave me the opportunity to be proved. He made a way to escape so that I could bear it. God has walked with me through all of it. I’ve been through loss and gain and can handle it all because of His provision. Now, at 72, I’m facing the prospect of prostate cancer. I’ll find out in a few weeks whether I have it or not, and what can be done.* Things like that don’t scare me anymore. Why not? Because God is faithful!
I can handle anything the world throws at me! Why? Because I’m strong enough? NO, Because God is strong enough and He is faithful! Do you believe “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”? Then why wouldn’t you believe that He is not going to “allow you to be tested beyond what you are able to bear, but will also provide the way of escape so that you will be able to bear it“? Can you “do all things through Christ” or not?
If you understand this, please share it.
*Quick update: An MRI showed a “lesion” in the prostate. It was biopsied and the report came back benign.
