God won't give you more than you can bear

"I know that God will not give me more than I can bear."

This sentence grieves my heart. I've written about it before and probably will again, simply because it is so often misused... and because the misuse upsets me so.  Someone quoted it in a ladies group I visited not long ago, and it has been on my mind since then. Might as well go on and get my thoughts in print so I can let it go.

The scripture that is referenced is 1 Corinthians 10:13, which says...

No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to humanity. God is faithful, and He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation He will also provide a way of escape so that you are able to bear it.

Well meaning, God fearing, Christ believing people twist this to apply "God's not going to give us more than we can handle" to all sorts of situations.

It breaks my heart to hear someone say, "God won't give you more than you can bear" because...well, what happens when He does? What happens when He does not save the child? What happens when He doesn't restore the marriage? What happens when He does not heal the spouse? What happens when it IS too much to bear?

There are 2 blessings that we absolutely miss out on by misusing this promise.

First, we miss the promise it gives...God will ALWAYS provide a way out of temptation. We are not helpless to Satan's tempting. There will never be a time when temptation is so great that the ONLY option you have is to sin. This Scripture promises a way out when faced with temptation. But that is a post in and of itself and will have to wait for another day.

Secondly, we miss the fact that we NEED Christ. When things are too much to bear, I run to My heavenly Father and crawl into His lap and sob. When I am terrified, I hide behind my heavenly Father. When I was told that I was having a miscarriage, when I was diagnosed with cancer, when there were more bills than money, when friends betrayed us, when my Nan died and I didn't know how to comfort my mom, when I was diagnosed with cancer again...when life was too much to bear, I ran to my Father. He carried me when I couldn't go on. He supported me when I collapsed. He comforted me when I grieved. He picked me up, dusted me off, wiped my tears, held me, soothed me, and comforted my soul. And, when life is too much to bear in the future, I will run to Him, and He will hold me.

I need Christ for Salvation and I need God's grace... but that's not all I need.  Sometimes life really IS too hard. Some circumstances and situations really ARE too much for me to bear. Sometimes I feel like I am going to crumble into a million pieces. Sometimes I feel like I am going to be crushed under the weight of the world. Sometimes my heart hurts so much that I think I might never recover. In these times I NEED God.

Why, oh why, would the God who has gone to such great lengths to make Himself known to us orchestrate our lives in such a way so that we never have need to run to Him for comfort, direction or any other sort of help?

I found this when I was looking for something that says "God wont give you more than you can bear"....

That pretty much sums it up.

Worship

 I recently read an article arguing the use instrumental accompaniment vs a capella singing in church.

I know people who follow a pastor from church to church and people who drop out of church all together when a pastor leaves or when life circumstances require them to move away from the area where "their" pastor is.

 One of the biggest ongoing sources of strife in the modern evangelical church is "contemporary" vs "traditional" service structure, specifically concerning the music styles of "praise band" and "organ/piano". This has been an "issue" on some level in churches all of my adult life.

I am really struggling to get my thoughts focused, but the thing that is gnawing on my brain is the question

 

"What do we worship?"

 

More specifically, do we worship God or do we worship... worship?

 If music style, the order of service, or whether the pastor wears a suit and tie, a robe, or t-shirt and shorts causes an uprising in the church, I have to wonder, "What are we worshipping?" Are these things, which are designed to draw our focus to God actually drawing our focus away from God and to our own selfish desires?

If worship causes such division in the church, then are we actually worshipping... worship?

 How do we determine whether or not we have made an idol out of worship, music, order of service, tradition, the pastor, heritage, denomination, or any other aspect of "church"?

I think that, if we are more concerned with or focused on anything other than God during worship,  perhaps we need to ask whether we are worshipping God or that thing we are focused on / concerned with.

That's a question we all have to answer individually I suppose.

 
I do know that Satan loves to disrupt corporate worship and cause dissention between believers. He is who benefits most when he can disrupt an entire congregation. He basks in the glory of his own pride when our focus is distracted from God during worship.

 I've often heard that idol worship is loving the gift more than the giver of the gift.

 Worship is a gift. We should worship the Giver.

The first 2 Commandments speak to this…

Do not have other gods besides Me.

Do not make an idol for yourself, whether in the shape of anything in the heavens above or on the earth below or in the waters under the earth. You must not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the fathers’ sin, to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing faithful love to a thousand generations of those who love Me and keep My commands. Exodus 20:3-6

Do we make an idol out of Church, worship, tradition, the pastor, denomination, or religion?

Is it possible that we love the gift of worship more than the giver?

 

Old Testament

In making good on my promise to myself to read the whole Bible, Genesis to Revelation, with as much vigor and enthusiasm as I have read fictional works, I have discovered a love for the Old Testament. This is exciting to me because I bought into the whole concept of "We live under Grace". I bought into "No longer bound by the law". I know some will shake their heads and scoff at me for being so... honest. The fact of the matter is, I am not alone. I am not the only one who has bought into the idea that sounds something like this...

"The Old Testament does not have as much bearing on me and my life as the New Testament does. So...I'll just focus on the New Testament."

I mean, let's face it, The New Testament is easier to digest. I can read through it and see nothing but God's unfailing love for me... and I like that.  I find so much comfort in God sending His son to pay for my sin...that He loves me enough to pay the price for me...that I am valuable enough to Him for it to matter where I spend eternity.  This is all true and I cling to it every moment of every day.

BUT

Taking the love of God displayed in the New Testament without the just-ness and judgment displayed in the Old, I get a skewed idea of who God is and of what HE is about. I run the risk of believing that God is all about me and what I want. I can buy into "cheap grace", believe the "Prosperity Gospel" and even believe that God would let some sin go unpunished. If I only look to the God of the New Testament, I can believe that God is more like me (after all, I relate so much to the Human-ness of Christ) and less like...well...God.

The Old Testament teaches me of God's patience, but it also teaches me that when God's patience runs out, He is swift and thorough in His punishment. I can read the New Testament and believe that God is all about me, but The Old Testament reminds me that God is really all about God. In light of the Old Testament, even Christ's Death and Resurrection are to bring God glory. (But that is a post for another day)

And the truth of the matter is, I need Christ Jesus and the absolute love of God portrayed in the New Testament, but I also need the God who parted the Red Sea, the God who killed the first born in every home in Egypt that didn't display blood on the door as instructed. I need the God who destroyed Sodom and who turned Lot's wife into a pillar of salt. I need the God who flooded the earth and destroyed all who inhabited it.  I need the God who spoke and the world came to be. I need a big huge, mighty, powerful God who takes sin and rebellion seriously. I need God With Us, but I also need the God in the burning bush.

Understanding God's power and justice and the seriousness with which He punishes rebellion and sin helps me to appreciate God incarnate all the more. Having a better understanding of God's standard of obedience helps me understand just how much I really do need Jesus to intercede for me.

The Old Testament teaches me that God takes sin and rebellion seriously and He punishes thoroughly and severely. And understanding that His patience does eventually run out reminds me that there are many who need to be introduced to Jesus.