Myth or Truth - Take One

1 Corinthians 10:13
2 Corinthians 12:9-10

I have had times in my relationship with Christ where He takes ideas or thoughts that I have always accepted as truth and He challenges me to search out the Truth for myself. Do you know what I am talking about? Sometimes it can be things that sound like they came from the Bible, but may or not be based on actual scripture.

Today, I pass that challenge on to you with this phrase: "God will not give you more than you can handle." Has anyone ever tossed these words out to you as a comfort through a difficult time? I can't find it anywhere in scripture! I believe this idea may have originally come from 1 Corinthians 10:13 "No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it."

Temptation and difficult situations are two completely different circumstances. In fact, I find time after time in the Bible when God gave people more than they could handle. It is in the 'more than you can handle' times when God can really show off His strength and power through us. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, "...My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong."

I believe true victory often comes in times that seem to be 'more than you can handle.' Perhaps you read this e-mail during a 'more than you can handle' time in your life. Seek God's direction for how He wants to receive glory through your life. Allow him to show His power through your weaknesses! The times in our lives when God gives us more than we can handle in our own strength are oftentimes when He wants to take us to a new place in our relationship with Him!