As I was driving one day, I saw a sign in front of a church that said, “God will not give you more than you can handle.” When I read that, I thought to myself, “Where is that scripture?” The implication is if you’re sick, broke, or overwhelmed, God is the one who causing it, but don’t worry, He knows how much you can take…

ugh.

Can I be honest? I don’t care how clever the saying is, this kind of thinking is destroying the Body of Christ –because sadly, people believe it. Especially when things like this come from leaders who are supposed to know God’s Word.

The closest scripture this statement could possibly be pulled from is 1 Corinthians 10:13, which says: “No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.”

In the original language, this word temptation describes the trial of one’s character–and by implication, means the trial of one’s virtue through an invitation to sin, especially from the devil. The Greek commentary says, “When God is the agent, “peirasmós” is for the purpose of proving someone; never for the purpose of causing him or her to fall. However, if it is the devil who tempts, then it is for the sole purpose of causing one to fall.”

In other words, Satan is behind all harmful temptation. He’s the one trying to put more on us than we can handle. God, on the other hand, is the one strengthening our character while also showing believers how to escape the snares of the devil.

Deliver Us From Evil

For example, think about how Jesus taught the disciples to pray: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.  And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen” (Matthew 6:9-13).

Jesus, the one who knew the Father’s heart best, contradicted our human theology that God would lead us into any form of trial. Instead, He made it very clear in this prayer where and from whom the trial comes, and WHO would deliver us out of it.

We can find another example in the Garden of Gethsemane. Before His crucifixion, Jesus prayed for His disciples (and each of us today). “[Father] I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one” (John 17:13-15).

Again, Jesus made it clear we would experience trials because of the devil’s influence, but His prayer was that our Father God would help and deliver us from all the traps of the enemy. So here’s what I want you to remember: Jesus said a house divided cannot stand (Matthew 12:25).

This means God can’t be both the oppressor AND the deliverer.

So the next time you’re tempted to think God has put too much on you, please stop and remember who the “tempter” really is–because it’s not God.

God is your deliverer!

The devil is the one putting too much on you. God is the One showing you the way of escape. And with each deliverance, you will grow stronger and stronger, able to stand in the day of adversity, resisting the devil, and showing others by your faith in God the way also.