DOES GOD GIVE US MORE THAN WE CAN HANDLE? by Sharon W. Betters for Core Christianity
How We Learn to Cry Out
During a conversation with a friend who lost a son, I asked her, “Is it true God doesn’t give us more than we can handle?” She laughed and responded, “No. And I’m living proof of that!”
Sadly, many of us face terrifying enemies believing God wants us to fight them on our own, because, after all, “He doesn’t give us more than we can handle.” Perhaps it takes growing old to recognize this statement as a lie.
Aging with grace sometimes feels impossible. It is more than we can handle. Paul gave us a biblical perspective when he wrote: “We were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. . . . On him we have set our hope” (2 Cor. 1:8–10).
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It’s in those most broken places that we can learn to cry out: “We are powerless against this great horde that is coming against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you” (2 Chron. 20:12).
Learning to Lament
In 2011, [my husband] Chuck had a widow-maker heart attack, and in 2016 he retired from pastoral ministry. A few months later he had brain surgery, which resulted in unexpected complications. Instead of going home as planned, we settled into a rehabilitation center where Chuck seemed to be in a semi comatose state. He later told me he felt imprisoned by a dark cloud, trapped between life and death.
As I watched over Chuck and prayed for him to come back to us, the Lord reminded me of the exciting days of serving alongside my husband in two inner-city churches where we learned to trust God for daily provision. I smiled at the memory of the six-year honeymoon we experienced when Chuck returned to our home church as a pastor, and I wept over the four years of church conflict that followed this idyllic time. Here I learned the meaning of lament. Then I remembered how God prepared a safe place for us in a church where everyone knew our warts but loved us anyway.
A year later, breast cancer threatened my life. During the months of intense chemotherapy God taught me what it means to receive his treasures in the darkness designed to turn my heart toward his love (Isa. 45:2–3). Four years later, I clung to God’s promise to send those treasures after the death of our son Mark.
