God Won’t Give Us More Than We Can Handle

Opening: “Nutrients Story
SLIDE 1: Pregnant Photo and mama’s deli

“God won’t give you/us more than we can handle.” And “he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.”

CONTEXT:
SLIDE 2: 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.”
I Corinthians 10:13 NIV

In sum -context – Paul warning Corinthians by reminding them of the Israelites – Sexual immorality, revelry (noisy parties) – led to their destruction.
FLEE FROM IDOLATRY. There is a way out. No excuse for sin. So use this verse to encourage an addict, but please don’t use it to encourage someone who is in the pit of despair.

“God won’t give you/us more than we can handle.” NOT IN THE BIBLE AND NOT TRUE.
———
TRUTH:
Sometimes we are given more than we can handle. Just ask Job, David, Paul, Jesus…me. you.
-A lot of times from our own sin or sin of someone. Fallen, broken world.
-Sometimes because God wants us to rely on Him, sometimes nothing we have done and we are already relying on God so what WHY? Sometimes really hard to make sense of it other than – sinful, fallen, world.

What do we do in the “MORE THAN WE CAN HANDLE” moments, days, seasons, years, decades…?
How do we have peace when we are drowning in disappointment?
Where is the hope in suffering?

What the Bible does say:
SLIDE 3 AND 4 (or 3 slides if need be, whatever works for this passage):
Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. 38 Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”
Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”
Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Couldn’t you men keep watch with me for one hour?” he asked Peter. “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
42 He went away a second time and prayed, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.”
43 When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. 44 So he left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing.
45 Then he returned to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour has come, and the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners. 46 Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer!”
Matthew 26:36-46
Suffering. More than one can handle. So then how do we survive this level of suffering.
Main Idea:
SLIDE 5: “God, I don’t like it, but I trust you.”
Lindsay: I trust you God but really? Enough already.
THREE TIMES: My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.
SLIDE 6: 1. Cry out to the Lord.
37 He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. 38 Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”
Vs. 39 Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”

*Short testimony of my faith, into season of doubt, Acts 17:26
*Pregnant – “Baby has a lot of problems, not compatible with life.” Peace and pain. Acts 17:26. Shiloh’s prayer vs. mine. Peace? Cry out to the Lord. “God, I don’t like it, but I trust you.”
My small group – Sick husband, brink of bankruptcy for 10 years, son in jail drug addiction. “God’s got this.” “I don’t like it, but okay.” “I felt completely covered.”
SLIDE 7: 2. Lean into your faith community.

Jesus and his disciples. Keep watch and pray. Asleep.
BUT – They might fall asleep on you. “God, I don’t like it, but I trust you.”
Matt “Trouble reveals the condition of my supportive relationships.”
BIBLE SAYS: Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Romans 12:15

SLIDE 8: Baby Faith and Faith and me

Found about Faith. Went to small group.
Meals, decorate house for Christmas, pray.
Our story: Baby Faith born. Died 4 days later. Hawaii trip. Friends collected $.

SLIDE 9: 3. Read the Bible.

When you get to know who God is, you will trust Him. Living in active word of God. Perhaps there is no greater time to really understand that but in suffering.

READ THE PSALMS: 150 songs or poems.
WHAT IS IN THE BIBLE:
Much lament ending with praise and HOPE.
Lament, crying out to God, honest feelings. Sometimes you just want someone who relates to your deep, deep pain. PSALMS.

Read Matthew 26 – Even as Jesus was in essence still writing the story of the bible in NT, he was referencing OT.

4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God. Matthew 4:4

When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, You knew my path. Pslam 142:3

WHAT I DIDN’T TELL YOU…When doctor said “your baby has a lot of problems…”
Where my peace came from. Season of doubt. YOU LOVE EVERYONE HOW IS THAT SPECIAL?

SLIDE 10: From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. Acts 17:26.

My small group just a few weeks ago – WHAT THEY SAID:

You can get to the place of “God, I don’t like it, but I trust you.” when you actually do trust God because you know him. Cry out to him, lean on your faith community and read the Bible.

The biproduct of trusting God in suffering is peace, hope and purpose.

SLIDE 11:
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7

CLOSING:

SLIDE 12: “Suffering is unbearable if you aren’t certain that God is for you and with you.” TIM KELLER

Are you certain God is for you and with you? My season of doubt.
Peace. acts 17:27. SEVERAL times where God showed up. And then…
Hawaii story.
SLIDE 13: photo of program

IF YOU are currently suffering… God has not abandoned you. He is for you even when you have been given way more than any one person can handle. He will bring PEACE AND PURPOSE in our pain. I would not be here preaching today were it not for our journey with faith. I have not seen a person raised from the dead, but I have seen God bring life from death.
Will you trust him?
Can you even whisper, by a thread “God I don’t like this, but I trust you.”