Stop living the myth.
How many times, inside the church, outside the church, have you heard well-meaning people say, “God won’t give you more than you can handle”?
I’ll be blunt. That’s a lie.
I can’t find that verse in any version I’ve read of the Bible. And I’ve looked. I searched for it page after page after exiting a NICU unit so many years ago, leaving my newborn inside an oxygen tank, puffed up and swollen, purple, floppy like a ragdoll, hematoma on the side of his head, one eye unable to close, struggling for air.
“My Lord, you think I can handle…that?”
I begged for the assurance that God believed in me…that God thought I could handle it. Because I surely didn’t. I crumbled internally when well-meaning people with well-meaning words assured me, “if anyone can handle this, it’s you.”
You crazy people.
Are you facing uphill burdens that seem to be more than you can handle?
Is it too much?
I believe God sometimes gives us exactly what we can’t handle because He wants to be our strength, our safety net and our rope. He bought, purchased and invested in us with the blood of His son…and if He has that much sunk into us, why wouldn’t He want to illuminate our burdens and LIGHTEN it all with His love?
This life, it’s just not easy sometimes. When burdens seem to wash over you and waves of trials are larger than the strength you have in you, when you feel there’s no place to turn, there is. Turn to Him.
Tell Him that you can’t do it. It’s at that moment He can do His best work.
I didn’t get that at the time of my difficulty. I searched for scripture telling me that I can handle it all, but I took scripture and emphasized the wrong part of the sentence. I twisted Philippians 4.13: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” I put on my very best Sunday smile and repeated. I…can do all things through Christ who strengthens me, yes I can. I can. I can do all things.
And then…I fell apart on the shoulder of a highway, pounding the steering wheel of my car as I saw my baby turning bluer and bluer on my way to the emergency room. The emergency room visits were too frequent, the long days at the teaching hospital and specialists were draining. Trying to maintain a bit of normalcy in the midst of chaos for a two-year-old who often had to tag along, and watching my husband sink under the burdens of financial worry as he strived to keep a business alive.
It was more than I could handle. But he said to me, “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. 2 Corinthians 12.9
In that moment of reality I cried out. And then I heard Him. A voice. An audible voice, sort of coming from behind my head. He said my name, and He told me that He knows I can’t. He said,
“Give it to me.”
Warmth, love, power, courage and energy surged, truly surged. from my head to my toes and then through my arms. I put my car in drive and continued on.
That was a moment I am sure I will never experience again. However it has become a life-long lesson:
Give it to Him.
It’s only then, that I can continue on.
I was not alone. You aren’t either. Nor were so many others in the Bible who experienced trials far more than he or she could bear. Look at Elijah the prophet in 1 Kings. He felt so alone, even after the profound miracles of God’s power were displayed in him…even power can feel like it’s more than we can handle sometimes. It made Elijah weak and he cried, “I have had enough, Lord.” Scripture tells us an angel of the Lord came back to him and said, “Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you.” 1 Kings 19:7
God knows when it’s too much. That’s where He will meet you on your journey.
You can do all things, you really can.
But only through Christ who strengthens you.