More Than You Can Bear

QUESTION:

If “God will never give us more than we can bear,” why does life seem so hard sometimes and I get depressed?  Some people kill themselves.  Why is that verse in there?

ANSWER:

“God Will Never Give You More Than You Can Bear”

Do you think that’s true? Does it have a biblical basis?  Actually not.  We actually misread the verse and think that “God will not give us more hardship in this life than we can bear.”  Some would point to 1 Corinthians 10:13, “No temptation has overtaken you but what is common to man. And God is faithful, he will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way of escape so that you can stand up under it.”

God will never allow you to experience temptation that is too much to bear. This verse refers to solicitation to sin and enticement to do evil. Temptations are not necessarily related to troubles, trials, and suffering.  If the intent is to say that God will never allow his people to have more trouble than they can bear, it would seem to contradict what Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 1:8, “We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered in the province of Asia . We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life.”

ESV - “…utterly burdened beyond our strength”
NKJ - “…beyond measure, above strength”
NLT - “…crushed and completely overwhelmed”

It got so bad for Paul that he thought he’d never live through it! He faced hardships that were more than he could humanly handle. While his suffering was certainly severe, it was not unique. Any of us may some time experience troubles beyond what we are able to bear.

What we do have is hope in Jesus Christ, prayer, a church family, faith, and a peace that passes all understanding which are all promised to us to help in times of trouble.

Troy Borst

Christian Education Minister

If you have a question about Scripture, please email me at troy.borst@newbeginningscctampa.org