“I Still Can’t Handle It”

By pastorbillwalden

Joe Christian: “Pastor Bill, I can’t believe these things are happening to me.  What did I do to deserve all this?” 

Me: “Joe, in your case, I don’t think you did anything to deserve all this.”  (I know Joe’s case)  “Joe, you remember that Jesus said, ‘In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.?’ (John 16:33) “Jesus told us that we would have hard times in life, sometimes for no apparent reason. Remember Joe, we live in a world full of sin, and it’s not the world that God designed. It’s a fallen world.”

Joe: “But I thought that God wouldn’t give me more than I could handle. It feels like too much”.

Me: “Joe, God never said He wouldn’t give you more than you could handle. We have confused the meaning of 1 Corinthians 10:13. He allows many things to come into our lives that we can’t handle. That’s why we need Him.”

“Joe, that verse says, ‘No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.’”

“Joe, let’s break it down…”

No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man;
“Sometimes we feel like we are the only one who struggles in a certain way, and that makes us isolated and embarrassed to discuss our trouble. The truth is, we all struggle in similar ways, and we are not alone in our humanity. Therefore, you don’t have to think that you are weird, and weaker than everyone else.”

but God is faithful,
“Regardless of how we feel, God is faithful. We must always remember this. Emotions are not trustworthy, but God is”.

who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able…
“Joe, this is where people get confused. They think that God won’t allow them to be tempted beyond what they are able to endure, but even Jesus needed help as He struggled in the Garden of Gethsemane, and an angel was sent to minister to Him in His humanity. Paul felt the ‘sentence of death in himself”, so that he wouldn’t trust in himself, but in God.”  (Luke 22;43; 2 Corinthians 1:8-10)

“God’s faithfulness isn’t that He protects us from unmanageable trials, but His faithfulness is this: He always provides a way of us escaping sin as we face those trials.  Our natural tendency is to avoid trials, and sometimes we sin in order to avoid facing trials.  The temptation is to take a short cut, to compromise, to give in, just like Satan suggested to Jesus at the end of His 40 day trial in the wilderness. Once again, there we see angels ministering to Jesus. Jesus needed help in His humanity.”  (Matthew 4:1-11)

“Jesus’ sin would have been to follow Satan’s advice to alleviate His own suffering.  That is the temptation of we face in facing trials.”

but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.
“The escape is that God gives us a way to ‘bear up under the trial’, which means we go through the trial without compromising in the trial. Notice Joe, we are to bear the trial, not escape the trial. Escape would be our choice, but sometimes God calls us to bear up under the trial. It purifies our faith Joe. Trials purify our faith. We choose God instead of trying to escape.”

Joe, of course, went out, and never struggled again. (kidding)

The huge challenge we face as Christians is that trials and temptations cause our emotions to collide with the truths and promises of God.  We forget about what we know, we feel that we can’t go on, and we question the intentions and integrity of God.

As Paul said in 1 Corinthians 10:13, all temptations are common to man, so we don’t need to scold each other, and we don’t need to feel condemned that we aren’t “handling things well”.  We can, however, re-group with God, and choose to believe His word rather than our emotions, and then make a decision to push through the trial with His help.

One thing more, let’s remember that we are human.  Jesus suffered in His humanity, as did Paul.  It’s not wrong to feel that, “I can’t handle it”, but the truth is, with God, we can.