Anthony Pritchard
Active Member
When God Gives More Than We Can Handle
There is a common saying that "God will not give you more than you can handle," but Scripture never teaches that. In fact, the Bible shows the opposite: God repeatedly places His people in situations far beyond their strength so they will learn to rely on His power, not their own.
Moses faced this truth when God called him to confront Pharaoh. Moses protested that he was inadequate, and God answered him with a promise of divine presence, not human ability. Gideon learned the same lesson when God reduced his army to three hundred men, making it impossible for him to claim victory by his own strength. These are not exceptions; they are the pattern.
David often found himself overwhelmed and beyond his own capacity. He prayed, "When my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I" (Psalm 61:2). David did not claim inner strength; he confessed his weakness and sought God as the One higher than himself.
Elijah, after the triumph on Mount Carmel, fled into the wilderness and collapsed under despair. He prayed, "It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life" (1 Kings 19:4). Elijah had reached the end of what he could handle. God strengthened him, fed him, and restored him, showing that the prophet’s endurance came from divine provision, not personal resilience.
Jeremiah was crushed under the weight of his calling. He said, "I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name. But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones" (Jeremiah 20:9). Jeremiah had no strength left, yet God’s word sustained him when his own resolve failed.
Jonah, sinking beneath the waves, confessed his helplessness: "The waters compassed me about, even to the soul" (Jonah 2:5). He could not save himself. God delivered him when he had no strength remaining.
Job endured losses no man could bear. He said, "My soul is weary of my life" (Job 10:1). Job’s strength was gone, yet God revealed His greatness and upheld him through suffering that no human could endure alone.
Paul gives the clearest statement of all. He writes, "We were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life: but we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead" (2 Corinthians 1:8‑9). Paul explicitly says God gave him more than he could handle, and he tells us why: so that he would not trust in himself.
The disciples in the storm cried out in fear, believing they were perishing. Jesus rebuked the wind and the sea, showing them that their safety did not rest in their own seamanship but in His authority. Hezekiah, surrounded by the Assyrian army, spread the threatening letter before the Lord and prayed, "O Lord our God, I beseech thee, save thou us" (2 Kings 19:19). He had no military strength to rely on; God delivered him. Jehoshaphat prayed, "For we have no might against this great company that cometh against us; neither know we what to do: but our eyes are upon thee" (2 Chronicles 20:12). God answered by fighting the battle for them.
Hannah, in her grief and barrenness, poured out her soul before the Lord, saying, "I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit" (1 Samuel 1:15). She had no power to change her situation, yet God heard her prayer and gave her strength beyond her own.
Peter, sinking beneath the waves, cried, "Lord, save me" (Matthew 14:30). He could not save himself; Jesus reached out and caught him. Israel at the Red Sea stood trapped between Pharaoh’s army and the water, with no strength and no escape. God said, "Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord" (Exodus 14:13), and He parted the sea.
Again and again, Scripture shows that God does not call His people to rely on their own strength. He brings them to the end of themselves so they will discover that His strength is made perfect in weakness. The Bible does not teach that God avoids giving us more than we can handle. It teaches that when we face more than we can bear, God Himself becomes our strength.
Scriptures That Teach Us to Rely on God and Not Ourselves
Scripture does not call us to self‑reliance; it calls us to God‑reliance. The Bible consistently teaches that our strength, wisdom, and sufficiency are not found within us but in Him alone.
Paul states this directly: "Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God" (2 Corinthians 3:5). He does not soften the point. We are not sufficient. God is.
The psalmist declares the same truth: "My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever" (Psalm 73:26). Human strength fails; divine strength sustains.
Proverbs gives the foundational command: "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding" (Proverbs 3:5). The contrast is absolute. Trust in Him. Do not lean on yourself.
Jeremiah echoes this with a warning: "Thus saith the Lord; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm… Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is" (Jeremiah 17:5,7). Trusting in human strength brings a curse; trusting in God brings blessing.
David writes, "The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped" (Psalm 28:7). Help does not come from within; it comes from the Lord in whom he trusts.
Isaiah gives the great promise: "He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength" (Isaiah 40:29). God does not merely assist the strong; He strengthens the powerless.
Jesus Himself teaches this principle when He says, "Without me ye can do nothing" (John 15:5). Not "little." Not "less." Nothing.
Paul learned this truth in suffering. He writes, "And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness" (2 Corinthians 12:9). God’s strength is not added to our strength; it is revealed in our weakness.
The psalmist again confesses, "Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth" (Psalm 124:8). Help is not found in human ability but in the Creator Himself.
Finally, the prophet Zechariah gives the summary of the entire biblical pattern: "Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts" (Zechariah 4:6). Human might and human power are set aside. God’s Spirit accomplishes what human strength cannot.
These verses form a single, unbroken testimony: God does not call us to rely on ourselves. He calls us to rely on Him. Our strength is not found in our capacity to handle life, but in His faithfulness to sustain us through what we cannot bear alone.
Fortitudo mea Deus est. My strength is God.
~Tony
© A.K. Pritchard 1979 -
Free to use with proper attribution.
