TheBible

Series Outline• The Big Reveal

• What’s the big deal?

• PROVING the Myth

• DISPROVING the Myth

• Busted?

Additional Caveat• The BSF Basic Truth Exercise– Pose the question.– What would a non-believer say?– What would someone at church say?– What does the Bible say?

• Exploring Scriptural support for both sides of the argument.– Better understanding of where people (and you?) are rooted.

– Armed for more constructive dialogue.

“God won’t give me more than I can handle.”

What is the Big Deal?• “God won’t give me more than I can handle.”

• We’re about to prove this statement right or wrong.

• What is the impact of getting this wrong?

The Bible tells us that our loving God protects and provides for us according to His perfect will.

Your turn at bat.• You’ve just been handed the debate card to argue for “God doesn’t give you more than you can handle.”

• What would you use to make the argument?

No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. 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

stand up under it.

1 Corinthians 10:13

Misinterpretation?• Easy pickin’s:– Today’s phrase appears to be a misquote from this verse that deals exclusively with temptation.

• Myth busted already?– Time for some more hair splitting.– If we can flee any temptation, and temptation leads to sin and suffering, does this mean God may not give more than we can handle, but we can walk ourselves into that situation?

Are they servants of Christ? (I am out of my mind to talk like this.) I am more. I have worked much harder, been

in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been

exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the

forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was

stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open

sea,

I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in

danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from

Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at

sea; and in danger from false brothers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been

cold and naked.

Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches. Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I

do not inwardly burn?

If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness.

2 Corinthians 11:23-30

Weak, but not Broken• Paul lists a pretty exhausting life. He acknowledges weakness, but is this evidence that God is maintaining him just above the “E” line on the gauge?

And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for

your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

Matthew 6:7-8

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much

more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his

life?

“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of

these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here

today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe

you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall

we wear?’

For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough

trouble of its own.

Matthew 6:25-34

The Safety Net• Jesus says in the Matthew 6 passage:– God knows your needs before you ask.

– Don’t “worry.”• What’s the extreme interpretation of this command?

– Jesus seems to assure us that God will feed and clothe us as handily as He does nature itself.

– As long as we have enough faith, right?

The Yes Man• Someone who subscribes to this statement probably:– Feels confident and assured.– Is not overly concerned with threat or danger.

• He may also subscribe to thoughts that this statement is conditional in nature.– As long as I don’t succumb to temptation.– As long as I have enough faith.

This statement is a misrepresentation and could be dangerous enough to deny someone their salvation!

Your turn at bat.• You’ve just been handed the debate card to argue against “God doesn’t give you more than you can handle.”

• What would you use to make the argument?

Then Joshua tore his clothes and fell before the ark of the Lord with his face to the ground until evening, as

did the elders of Israel; they all put dust on their heads. "Oh, Lord God," Joshua said, "why did You ever bring

these people across the Jordan to hand us over to the Amorites for our destruction? If only we had been

content to remain on the other side of the Jordan!“

Joshua 7:6-7

To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of

Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is

made perfect in weakness.”

2 Corinthians 12:7-9a

Crisis of Strength• Joshua faced a crisis following a military defeat.

• Paul faced a crisis of unrelenting torment.

• Both would conclude that their victory and deliverance could only come from the supernatural hand of God.

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 Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who

raises the dead.

He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, as you help us by your prayers. Then many

will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to

the prayers of many.

2 Corinthians 1:8-11

The Smell of Bust• The hardships were “far beyond our ability to endure.”

• What does it mean to “despair even of life?”

• “This happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead.”

Behold, these are but the outskirts of his ways, and how small a whisper do

we hear of him! But the thunder of his power who can understand?”

Job 26:14

Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own

understanding;

Proverbs 3:5

Clearer Picture...• Job tells us we don’t have a chance to fully comprehend God’s ways or powers.

• Proverbs 3 encourages us to rely on that unfathomable power over our own.

• Why did these make the cut?

Avoiding Blasphemy• Independent sufficiency is a trail to an unpleasant destination.– Ask Adam!

• Today’s statement LIMITS God:– My strengths determine what God can or cannot do or allow in my life.• “Whatever is overcome has been overcome by my own strength.”

• “God’s only role was to prevent anything that exceededs my strength.”

– Also, individual vs. plural pronoun.

Big Picture Bible• The Bible is ultimately a narrative of the downfall of man via separation from their Creator, The Creator’s unfolding plan for reconciliation, and the unsurpassing joy and victory of that reconciliation.

• ...so you want circumstantial independence why?

YUP.

To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully

works in me.

Colossians 1:29

Lifting the Limits• By shunning our own feeble strength and seeking God’s unlimited power, we truly become capable of seeing His work through us.

• Sometimes, too, God makes it so that His giving us more than we can handle is a good thing!

Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven

and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.

Malachi 3:10

Application• Do not attempt to limit God by the constraints of your own strength.

• Do not abandon God WHEN things happen beyond your ability to bear.

• Do feel the incredible power of His strength when you surrender and find true purpose in letting God work through you!