The Strange Things People Say

Well-meaning people will occasionally say things that are not true.  One of those phrases is, “God will never give you more than you can handle.”  These phrases are not evil or malicious – they are simply not true. We repeat them without thinking. They become like a cheesy greeting card slogan inserted into the blank spots of our conversation when we don’t know what else to say when we see someone suffering.

If we believe God will only give us what we can handle why would we ever need to call upon Him to solve the issues we face?  If the solutions we seek can be discovered by the simple exercise of human intellect or will, we will have effectively removed the need for a supernatural component from our life for the impossible situations each of us will face in the course of a lifetime.

The record of the God's Kingdom has always been a story about a people who were taken past the point of their talent, resource and endurance.  These people found themselves deposited in places of impossibility where if God did not show up nothing would happen.  For most of their lives they lived with the reality that God had asked them to do things well beyond their ability to handle by sheer will power.  

In the overwhelming situations of life, where your only remaining option is God, you will find all you have to offer will be an expression of faith the size of a mustard seed. This offering will appear small and dwarfed by the impossibility of the problem you face, but that seed contains tremendous potential when touched by God. By itself it is only a little seed. When touched by God it becomes a miracle. The moment your seed of faith sprouts it will release a supernatural harvest you had previously thought impossible. That kind of experience will change your vocabulary of faith.