False: God Won't Give You More Than You Can Handle

You can do this.

Now, when I say, “You can do this,” I’m afraid you’ll call to mind clichés that I hate, the one at the top of the list being the lie that “God won’t give you more than you can handle.” Not true. He will, and he often does. I could have titled this book You Can’t Actually Do This but God Can if You’ll Trust Him with the Journey and Believe All Confidence Is Miraculously from Him So Get on Board Because He’s Better at Everything Already and What You’re Doing without Him Is a Waste of Time and Energy. But that’s a little cumbersome.

So before we go any further, before we get to understanding how God has actually already offered us this confidence that we may not think we deserve, we need to face this one thing head on: God will never give you a challenge or a limitation just because he believes you’re strong enough to handle it.

I’ve met so many women—and have often been one of them—who have been lectured into the lie that this challenge, this physical limitation, this disease or cancer, this crippling addiction, this loved one who’s dying, this wondering-how-I’ll-feed-my-children-next-week, and on, and on, is a compliment from God. As if it’s a title promotion. As if she has done so well with all of life’s normal responsibilities that she’s now been promoted to carry the heaviest things that come with life’s hardest seasons, all because God thinks she can handle it.

God doesn’t work that way. He’s not waiting to see how much we can carry before we are crushed under the weight. My goodness, I’m thankful this is not the God we serve.

While you may be facing a situation, a role, or a season right now that has caused you to believe you can’t do it at all, you are not left alone in this journey. And the truth is, you can do this with the real truths in your pocket.

* * *