I Corinthians 10:13 might be one of the most misused verses
in all of Scripture. Seriously. I am near the point of pulling my hair out
and screaming as people continue to say things such as, “God won’t give me more
than I can handle.” Really? Let’s think this through on a variety of
levels…
First, there are people… people who love God with their
whole hearts… people who serve God with their whole lives… who find themselves
in legitimately tragic situations that are far more than anyone can handle. I think
that flippantly throwing around clichés is much more hurtful than helpful in
these situations, don’t you?
Further, there are people who fit the same category above,
who find themselves in really difficult circumstances, or just crappy life
moments, that are also more than
anyone can handle. Again… stop with the clichés.
In either of the above cases, it seems that what we are
really saying to hurting people is, “God doesn’t really love you that much. Or, then again, maybe you don’t love God that
much, and that’s why your situation is unbearable. But, he’s got me covered.” Please… think
before you speak.
But that’s not what really got me going on this
misinterpretation, tonight, if I’m honest…
It bothers me when people consistently live lives that are
clearly, and intentionally, outside of God’s will… that are clearly sinful… and
they basically ask God to bless them in that sin and then proclaim that God
will not give them more than they can handle.
It bothers me, because they never seem to think about the fact that they
really have brought all kinds of trouble and difficulties into their own
lives. I don’t think that we can expect
God to come through and clean that up, without our willingness to change, just
to make us comfortable and happy…
This is what I Corinthians 10:13 says, “No
temptation
has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. 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 endure it” (NIV). It’s much less about our comfort and God’s
response to our situations and much more about our obedience and our response to
God’s goodness. If you don’t believe me,
go ahead and read I Corinthians 10:1-13 and put it into context. (As a side note, James 1:13 is pretty clear
that God is not the tempter, just in case we’ve also lost that perspective.)
Sometimes life is
more than we can handle. It just
is. But God will provide a way for us to
draw near to him and stand up against temptation. That’s probably not a very popular thing to
say… but it’s true…
L.
PS This is post
number 107, making this the most I have ever
blogged in one year. It’s not as much as
I wanted to blog, at this point, but I’m pretty happy with the record I have of
the first 7+ months of 2013… More to
come… Thanks for reading!
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