Does the Bible Say “G-d Will Not Give Me More Than I Can Handle?”

“I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that our ancestors were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ. Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them, and they were struck down in the wilderness. Now these things occurred as examples for us, so that we might not desire evil as they did. Do not become idolaters as some of them did; as it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink, and they rose up to play.” We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day. We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did, and were destroyed by serpents. And do not complain as some of them did, and were destroyed by the destroyer. These things happened to them to serve as an example, and they were written down to instruct us, on whom the ends of the ages have come. So if you think you are standing, watch out that you do not fall. No testing has overtaken you that is not common to everyone. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it. Therefore, my dear friends, flee from the worship of idols.” 1 Corinthians 10:1-13

Too often this text has been translated or thrown out to people who are suffering in either body, mind or spirit to suggest that the bible says “G-d will not give you more than you can handle.” In fact I have referenced it in a few, exceptional situations in my ministry. In my life, I have found that I had been given plenty that, at the moment I was in the midst of the valley of the shadow of death, I believed that it was too much to handle. People use this idea (G-d does not give us more than we can handle) as some pop-cultural saying to help us believe that either

A.) G-d is not at the source of our calamity, or
B.) that we have a deeper well of reserves we can dip into because “we have it in us to handle all situations”.

It is my belief that a saying like “G-d does not give us more than we can handle” is a form of cheap Grace. In other words, if we just believe, if we have a deep enough faith, then we will easily be able to handle the loss, calamity, cancer, or depression because obviously G-d knows we can handle all of those.

My friends, Grace is costly. Grace was won for us through the suffering and death of Jesus. Even Jesus doubted, if just for a microsecond, that he could handle what his Father was giving him when he prayed in the Garden. It is not G-d acting as the Divine “bug-zapper” meting out punishment and calamity with the merriment and glee of Job’s protagonist. (read Job 1:6-21) It is life that gives plenty of people more than they can handle. Through our decisions, through our actions, and just through random acts and situations well out of our control, we are given terrible situations – and sometimes they drive us to our destruction. That is why our hope comes through the Grace of G-d won for us through the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Even Job gives reference to the Grace of the coming Messiah:

“O that my words were written down! O that they were inscribed in a book! O that with an iron pen and with lead they were engraved on a rock forever! For I know that my Redeemer lives, and that at the last he will stand upon the earth; and after my skin has been thus destroyed, then in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see on my side….” (Job 19:23-27a)

Pastor Dave

Does the Bible Say “The Lord Will Fight Your Fights – Just Be Still?”

“As Pharaoh drew near, the Israelites looked back, and there were the Egyptians advancing on them. In great fear the Israelites cried out to the LORD. They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us, bringing us out of Egypt? Is this not the very thing we told you in Egypt, ‘Let us alone and let us serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.” But Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid, stand firm, and see the deliverance that the LORD will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians whom you see today you shall never see again. The LORD will fight for you, and you have only to keep still.” Then the LORD said to Moses, “Why do you cry out to me? Tell the Israelites to go forward. But you lift up your staff, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, that the Israelites may go into the sea on dry ground.” Exodus 14:10-16

This chapter and verse causes us to think back to the Israelites, and their initial journey out of Egypt. Thinking back to our expanding band of Israelites, Moses, with a lot of help from the Lord, had finally convinced Pharaoh to let them leave. But the Israelites are not far off when Pharaoh has a change of heart. He pursues them to the point where the people are trapped between the Red Sea and the advancing army of Egypt. In their fear the Israelites began to cry out to Moses that they would have been better off had they never left Egypt. In the NIV translation, Moses responds by telling them not to fear, “The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.” The Lord will fight for you; you need only be still. It is a saying that has been printed on t-shirts, bumper stickers, posters, and the like so much it has lost its original meaning. Too many people turn to this verse thinking that if they just wait for the Lord to act in their lives, if they just sit still, the Lord will deliver them from whatever trial they are facing. But, unfortunately, this is not the kind of “being still” the text is talking about. In fact, if you look up different translations, you will find this verse has different interpretations:

The New King James and the ESV translate the verse as “The LORD will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace,” and, “The LORD will fight for you, and you have only to be silent,” respectively.

The Hebrew word translated here does not have an English equivalent, but means all of the things stated in those translations…to be still, peaceful, and silent. As such, the verse has nothing to do with the people sitting still – and has everything to do with the people remaining calm. Which then sets up the next verse which reads: “Then the Lord said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on.” (Exodus 14:15)

That’s right – the Lord tells them to move on. Why would the Lord tell Moses to tell the Israelites to sit still in one breath, and in the next breath tell them to “get going”? Because, the people were told not to sit still, they were told to be calm. To understand one verse you have to read the second with it – and when you do it becomes clear that we are being told that our reaction to mounting trials should be two-fold. First, we are to remain calm and remain steadfast in our hearts. We are to trust the LORD will always fight for us. But don’t stop there. We, then, must move in faith. Don’t stand still! God says, Get moving!!!

Pastor Dave