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You might be thinking there is a word missing in the title of this post.
Don’t people always say “God will never give us more than we can handle” ? Yes, they certainly do. However, that is a worldly belief, not a biblical one.
There is nowhere in the Bible where God says He won’t give us more than we can handle.
The confusion most likely originates from 1 Corinthians 10:31 which says,“No temptation has overtaken 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 the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.” (NIV) But this verse mentions temptations, not burdens.
In this verse, Paul is saying that we will never be ‘tempted’ beyond what we can stand up against in God’s strength, not that we will never feel burdened beyond what we can handle.
In fact, the past few weeks I’ve wondered if God was giving me more than I could handle, and I’ve felt very burdened – which is the reason I may have seemed a little quiet on my blog lately. Â But with so many concerns tugging at my heart and so many different people and loved ones needing my attention, it’s been hard to sit down and write! Â Not only because my time has been pressed, but my heart has been pressed as well.
But a few weeks ago, upon thinking about why there seemed to be so many burdens to carry, I began noticing that I was getting more and more hungry for more and more of God. As if exerting so much energy carrying my burdens had made me famished! Famished for God.
As a result, I’ve been waking up in the mornings, and the very first thing that keeps coming to mind is a desire to pray. Â I can’t help but pick up my devotion book and read through it before I do anything else, because I want to see if God has a nugget for me that morning. Â Maybe an answer to prayer or wisdom for the day. I’ve also been having a hard time turning off my Christian radio station, just in case God wants to speak to me through song.
You see, I’ve felt a little distant from God, due to so many distractions. It seemed He had been a little quiet lately too. So I began praying for new opportunities for closeness with Him. Â I Â longed for God to pour into me in fresh new ways. Yet, I had no idea what to do differently than the normal things I do every day.
But then one particular morning a couple weeks ago, I was feeling especially hungry — Â not for breakfast, but for God. So I bowed my head to pray, and asked Him what I needed to do. How I could feel closer to Him. How to feel better connected and in tune with His voice, even when life was noisy. Â Then I opened my daily devotional, and read this:
“I know precisely what you need to draw nearer to me. Go through each day looking for what
I have prepared for you. Accept every event as My hand-tailored provision for your needs.” Â (Jesus Calling)
God is so faithful. I had just prayed about desiring to draw nearer to Him, and He already had the answer ready for me. I simply needed to be acutely aware throughout my day, and look for Him in the midst. Expect Him to be Present in my ordinary experiences in extraordinary ways.
The very next day’s devotion said this:
“TIME WITH ME cannot be rushed. Bring Me the sacrifice of your precious time.”
If I truly wanted to hear His voice loud and clear, and get reconnected, I needed to spend even more time with Him. Not the time I had to spare, but the time I didn’t have to spare. The time that was precious.
All too often, we think we don’t have time for God, and we begin to rely on our own strength and wisdom to handle life’s problems, gradually creating a chasm between us and God, and eventually plummeting us into a desperate state of despair.  Instead of actively expecting God to step into our situations, we passively try to shoulder all the burdens, and eventually begin to feel weak and overwhelmed. We forget to seek God out in the big and the small situations.
We may even find ourselves questioning God about all that He is allowing us to endure, and wondering if just maybe He did give us more than we could handle. Friend, the truth is, He probably has. The old saying that says He won’t do that is merely a myth.
All throughout the Bible we read of regular people who were handed seemingly impossible burdens to bear but instead of trying to handle life on their own, they drew closer to God, fully relying on Him for direction and deliverance. We read in scripture of how God gave each individual more they could handle on their own and then filled them with strength and capability every step of the way.
Just like the characters in scripture, God longs for us to depend on Him when we are feeling overwhelmed with life and burdened by more than we can handle. He wants us to spend time with Him so we can be filled with what we need to get through each day.
In Matthew 19:26 Jesus said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
When our load seems too heavy to carry, it might be that God is not only waiting for us to recognize that we can’t handle it on our own, but also hoping that our desperation will build our spiritual appetite so much so that we wake up starving every morning.
No matter what life hands us, just know that God will never give us more than HE can handle. We can’t do it all, but He can.
And that is a fact.
51 Comments
Tracie Miles is a bestselling author and the Director of COMPEL Training with Proverbs 31 Ministries. She helps women grow stronger in their faith, pursue the life of purpose God designed them for and live a life of peace, joy and happiness despite their circumstances.
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Tracie, thank you so much for sharing. I’ve been going through this exact same thing for days now, feeling this burden. I woke up is morning and felt I just needed to make time that I didn’t have to just pray and listen and I came across your post. Thank you for being here when I needed you and being obedient. I’m turning my burdens over to God today, even if I can’t handle them, He can.
God will never give us more than HE can handle. So true, I never thought of it that way. I will remember this and share with others during our difficult times. Thank you, Tracie.
Oh you have no idea how much I need to read this today. Thank you for truly blessing my life!
*need not read- see I told you!
Tracie,
Your post really spoke to my heart this morning. The scripture you shared, my devotions, songs and sermons this week have all confirmed to me these truths. Thank you for your insight that tied it all together.
You are a blessing; thank you for sharing.
Thank you for this post, it was right on time for me.
Tracie, These are powerful words and timely ones for me as well. As I watch my grandma lose her battle with cancerr, then process my own emotion and attempt to help my 5 little ones do the same…I feel the load get heavy. We add to that a crazy spring for our farming family and I can feel like I can’t handle it all, but your words here are ones He’s whispered to me as well…I must continue to seek Him with all my heart and depend on Him for everything especially when I can’t handle because He can! And will. Thank you for sharing His voice here today!
So true! I spoke at my cousin’s funeral sharing that life gives us more than we can bear and more than we can understand. But that’s when we are carried by our faith in a loving Father. Thanks for sharing.
Tracy,
Thank-you for this post. It is just what I needed to read.
Thank you for posting this! I am in the middle of trying to figure out what He wants me to do next. I just need to draw closer to Him and I am sure He will lead me the right way. I just have to give it all to Him.
I’ve come to understand that I can’t handle all my burdens either. God revealed to me that I need to start my days off as well praying and reading his word. He is showing me that He is the one that can handle my burdens and to turn them over to Him. I am accepting the fact that I need to do that, but still find myself at times worrying about them. When I worry about them I’m not fully turning my problems over to Him. So, it is taking some time with me, but I see God slowly changing me because I’m open to change. Thank you for writing the book Stressed-Less Living, Finding God’s Peace in Your Chaotic World. This book has really helped me. I see a lot of similarities in my own life in a lot of your real life scenarios. May God bless you and continue to use you.
Hello Tracy,
Your post is part of a long trail pointing to the fact I must spend more time with God. The problem is I just do not seem to be able to do it. I suffer from bipolar and the chasm just seems to get bigger and bigger! Please, I desperately need your prayers as only God can solve this problem
wow thanks for this post. “God will never give us more than we can handle” ? Yes, they certainly do. However, that is a worldly belief, not a biblical one. I have always believed the worldly belief, thanks for clarifying that for me!! Because wow I do feel right now that I am getting more than I can handle. I needed this post so much today. God bless you Tracie for posting it!!!
Good morning Tracie! I have been so busy and so overwhelmed that I am just reading this post today…the great thing about this is that yesterday, after attending Mass with mom & dad for Father’s Day and visiting with my daughter and two grandsons, I gave myself the rest of the day off. I plopped into the recliner with EWTN on and rested with Jesus! (And took a nap) I am behind in the SLL OBS a couple weeks, but last night almost finished reading and journaling through Choose Your Weapons. I fell asleep to my Laudate app meditation on the days Mass readings. I woke up early, came down for coffee, read my devotional “God Calling” and rejoiced! Then I went back to read some missed posts. Here I am thinking the Lord never gives me more than I can handle and you share a beautiful new light on my thoughts. Starting each day with God gives me peace, hope and strength. I will be prepared to face this day with Him, calling His name Jesus, all day long! Knowing that with Him all things are possible! He is faithful and He has a plan for me today! “This is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice in it and be glad!” Psalm 118:24. He answered me with love…Jesus, I trust in you!
Thank you for sharing this.
Thankyou so much for speaking on this. You are so right! I have heard the statement, “god will never give you more than you can handle” and for a long time felt like there was something missing to it because i knew many times i had faced things that were far beyond me. I recently came to the conclusion that you shared in this message. That he can handle it. I share so much of the same processes of reaching and desiring for closeness with him. Through the radio, my devotional, his word. I continue to hinger and p:ray that this hunger never ceases! Who knew being hungry could be so satisfying.
This is just what I needed. I have been struggling with so many things lately and wondering what God is teaching me. Sometimes I get so busy trying to figure things out and I forget to just step back and remember that my God already has this taken care of I just need to trust in him. I have often felt like I was doing something wrong or missing something when people would say God wouldn’t give you more than you can handle because I would feel anxious or overwhelmed in my life situations, but I believe you are right when you said yes he will! He does this to remind us we need him every step of the way. We are weak and without constantly seeking His face we will continue to feel burdened. Thank you for this message!
Just Recently i was facing so many burdens ant trials in my life and i started spending a lot of time reading my bible and doing studies. I have so much peace in my life now and i learned to cast all my worries on God because he can handled them better than me and let me rest. i loved reading your words of encourangement,they really did lift me and i thank you.Be Blessed
Be blessed
Just last week, I had to fly and I am SO very scared. But, thru much prayer and some Dramamine, I did very well. I had to sit in between two ladies and the chatting began and ended with the flight…both were non-fearing flyers and Christians. It was such a blessing.
The scripture referenced above is actually 1 Cor 10:13.
In His,
Paul
As I have been facing many family situations concerning health issues as well as spiritual issues over several years I have found myself pressing in to God and as a previous comment famished for God. My daughter decided to buy a springer spaniel puppy in 2012 – he is now 10 months old and I have been responsible for his early morning walk – as he flushes out pheasants and the like in the woodland around our home I have been spending the time with God, praying, sorting my mind and releasing all that has troubled me with the family situations which have increased over the years
. I now find I am seeking out spiritual food wherever it is available – what a mighty and amazing God we serve. For so long I have heard the phrase that “God never gives us more than we can handle” thank you for the clarification as at times I have felt so burdened but can now give it all to God who can handle it on my behalf – what a release.
thank you…for a long time I always wondered y he has giving me such a burden that I couldn’t handle. people would tell me God never gives more then what we can handle. I really thought that he has abandoned me or that I am just the bad appeal that trends everything bad but know I understand. I will now wait and leave it to him it is a big burdened and I hope he will help my with it because I can’t go on with it on my own.
Thank you. I needed this in my life right now
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