I remember hearing the assurance that God will not give us more than we can handle when Christians were talking about I Corinthians 10:13 when it says, “God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able.” But this is talking about temptations, not trials.
The same author of I Corinthians 10:13, the apostle Paul, also wrote 2 Corinthians 1:8 which says, “For we do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, of our trouble which came to us in Asia: that we were burdened beyond measure, above strength, so that we despaired even of life” (2 Corinthians 1:8). Notice that Paul says they were burdened beyond their own strength to the point of despair. Paul was in a situation where it seemed hopeless. Whatever he and his mission team were facing, was beyond their own resources to overcome. He felt God had put more on him than he or anyone on his mission team could handle.
Have you ever felt this way? That God has given you more than you can handle? That there is no way you can overcome this situation with your own resources? Your abilities and connections with others cannot rescue you from the hopelessness you are facing? You are tempted to give up because you cannot escape this place of despair?
Why does God permit this to happen to us? Is He being unloving to us when He allows us to have more than we can handle? Paul also explains why God gives us more than we can handle in 2 Corinthians 1:9,“Yes, we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead.” God does give us more than we can handle so “that we should not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead.” What God wants to do in these hopeless situations is to teach us to depend more on Him than on ourselves or others. He wants to “raise the dead” for us. He longs to do what is humanly impossible for us to do.
This is very difficult for us to accept because we do not like to sit in our pain. Our natural tendency is to withdraw from the pain. We try to avoid pain by turning to a quick fix such as alcohol, busyness, depression, drugs, romance, sarcasm, theology, or even ministry instead of turning to God. But these options only lead to more pain and hopelessness.
God did not originally create people to have to deal with pain. Pain was not Adam and Eve’s experience before the Fall (Genesis 1-2). They lived in a perfect environment and enjoyed perfect fellowship with God and one another because there was no sin and death. Before the Fall, all their needs were met by God in the Garden of Eden. But after the Fall (Genesis 3:1-6), there was a separation from God resulting in fear and shame (Genesis 3:7-10). Adam and Eve’s first response was to fix the pain and shame by covering themselves with fig leaves (Genesis 3:7). But this covering did not remove the effects of their sin. God had to do that when He “made tunics of skin” through the death of an innocent animal (Genesis 3:21).
By providing a covering with animal skins, God provided forgiveness through the “shedding of blood” (Hebrews 9:22). God later provided forgiveness through the Old Testament sacrificial system which pointed ahead to the ultimate sacrifice of God’s perfect Son, Jesus Christ (John 1:29; Hebrews 9:23-10:25). Like that first animal that was sacrificed for Adam and Eve, Jesus Christ would also be innocent and without sin because He was and is God (John 1:1, 14, 17; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Hebrews 4:15; I Peter 3:18). And like that first sacrificial animal, Jesus was born to die for the sins of others (John 1:29; Romans 5:8; I John 4:9), that “whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).
Like Adam and Eve, we have a natural tendency to turn to other things to remove our pain. But God wants us to sit in our pain so we will draw closer to Him. If we do not sit in the pain, we do not need to go to God for comfort and strength.
Jesus said, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). Christ does not say to “Come to a religion or to your pastor, priest, parents, or peers.” No, He says, “Come to Me.” Nor does He say, “Come to Me and I will give you fear, guilt and shame.” No, Jesus says to come to Him in faith and He “will give you rest.” The rest Jesus offers here refers to a state of mind that exists when a non-Christian realizes he or she does not have to earn or work for their salvation. This refers to the positional rest of eternal life that is based on trusting in Christ’s accomplishment on the cross.
If you do not know for sure that you have eternal life and will go to heaven when you die, accept Jesus’ invitation and come to Him just as you are for spiritual rest by believing in Jesus for His gift of eternal life (11:28; cf. John 3:16). Then He can give you the comfort and strength you need when you face more than you can handle.
If you have believed in Jesus for everlasting life, understand that there will be times when He gives you more than you can handle so you will learn to draw near to Him and depend on Him to do what you could never do on your own (2 Corinthians 1:8-9). He wants to take you deeper in your relationship with Him so you can experience His resurrection power.