More than we can handle...

1 Corinthians 10:1-13New International Version (NIV)

Warnings From Israel’s History

10 For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers and sisters, that our ancestors were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. 2 They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. 3 They all ate the same spiritual food 4 and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ. 5 Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered in the wilderness.

6 Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did. 7 Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written: “The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.” 8 We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did—and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died. 9 We should not test Christ, as some of them did—and were killed by snakes. 10 And do not grumble, as some of them did—and were killed by the destroying angel.

11 These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the culmination of the ages has come.12 So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!13 No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. 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 endure it.

As a congregation that has many teachers and farmers, we know what it is like to be tested.  As parents we are tested on a nearly daily basis.  As employees, differing tasks test our abilities to perform certain duties.  Pretty much every day has some sort of test.  But we have long held onto the cliche “that God will not give us more than we can handle.”  In other words, no test will be too difficult.  This cliche gives us hope that no matter what life throws at us that God has given us the strength to get through it.  The word test implies that God knowingly and purposefully passes these out like teachers did this past week in giving students their Iowa Assessments.  There is comfort in knowing God controls all things, that God has our absolute best interest in mind through these trials and tribulations that He so freely gives out.  There is undeniable comfort found in knowing God will pull you through the worst times of your life.  That is until this sometimes is not enough.   

According to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, a woman is assaulted or beaten every 9 seconds in the US.  In one year, nearly 10 million women and men are physically abused by intimate partners.  So, for those 10 million women and men, is this part of their test?  If so, why is their test so much more difficult than mine?  I grew up in middle america to white and mostly happily married parents who were hard-working members of the middle class.  The biggest “test” in my faith up until this point in my life has been a two year window that I seriously doubted my calling to preach and had some major doubts about my faith in general.  I know, boohoo, right?  No doubt it tested my faith but this test was nothing compared to a new born baby whose mother was addicted to crack and has no idea who the father of her baby is.  Why was my test not nearly that difficult?  Why do some people battle illness, depression or mental disabilities their entire life and all I had to face were some doubts?  In other words, why was my test so easy?  If I were in 10th grade and received a 4th grade test and the rest of the class received a test designed for doctoral students it would be easy to assume the teacher favored me in some way.  We could assume that the teacher wanted me to succeed rather easily while that same teacher wanted others to struggle so much for only a small portion of success that ultimately resulted in failure.  As teachers, none of you would intentionally prohibit your students from achieving success.  So why do we think God does?

Admittedly, Paul’s scripture in 1 Corinthians chapter 10 goes a long ways to prove my theory wrong (that we will, in fact, face obstacles that we may not be able to handle and that God does not hand out these “tests” like a professor during finals week).  As a reminder, verse 13 says, “No temptation (or test) has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted (or tested) beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted (or tested), he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.”  One biblical commentator says, “Paul is clear such challenges come from a source other than God.  Testing is not what the believers seek out or chooses for themselves.  It is also not something they rejoice in and celebrate.”  While I want and need this to be true for my point to stick, the writer does not offer any proof of these claims so at this point I still haven’t proven my point.

However, I encourage us to look at these tests differently than we perhaps have in the past.  When we go through these struggles we often attempt to conquer them on our own.  Whether it is guilt, shame or a fear of embarrassment we take on these challenges in the bitter cold of loneliness.  I do believe we will encounter obstacles that may be more than we can handle.  But let’s look at some of the scriptures leading up to Paul’s smoking gun in verse 13. Throughout our scripture for this morning Paul makes plenty of references to the community of believers facing these challenges, together.  Ask someone who has faced real tragedy, real heart-break if it is possible for God to give someone more than they can handle.  Several questions arise when looking at the old cliche “that God won’t give us more than we can handle.”  For example, “If I am supposed to handle this, then why can’t I handle it?” Or “If we can handle anything that comes our way, then why do we need God at all?”  When describing really difficult time in his life, the lead pastor at Denver Community Church Michael Hidalgo said this, “To be honest, if someone had come alongside me at that point and tried to reassure me by saying, ‘God won’t give you more than you can handle,’ I may have punched them square in the face.”  Again, ask those people who have faced such a difficult time that they echo the sentiment of this old cliche.  They will tell you that they feel something similar to the Denver pastor.  Hidalgo goes on to say that, “We need to realize that sometimes we can’t make it on our own.”  

That is the point I want to make clear today.  We will encounter times that may be too difficult for us to handle on our own.  We will face “tests” that we alone cannot take on and God does not pick and choose who faces what test.  Instead, God’s love, mercy and grace gives each of us a choice in every situation when we are facing temptation.  Paul is clear that God has given us a choice as to whether we engage in sin or run from it, “...He will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.”  God promises that he will always provide a way for us to run from sin.  But it is tremendously important that we mark the difference between sin and suffering.  God allows us to choose what path we take when it comes to temptation but suffering is not a choice.  Think about the child who has been diagnosed with terminal cancer or the long, difficult path of the baby born into a cocaine addiction.  They did not choose that.  And it is impossible for me to believe that God would choose that for them.  Look at Matthew 26:38 on the eve of his execution we find Jesus saying, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death.”  When we become aware that life will give us more than we can handle we find a promise: God is faithful to meet us in the mess and the pain.  Peter instructs the church to cast out our fears, worries, suffering and pain on God and urges us to do this because God can handle it.  God ALREADY handled it.  But there again, we find another cliche.  When things really hurt, God can seem so far away.  That is why you and I, this church and this community are so crucial.  Look at how we have rallied in the face of tragedy.  We have heroes like Addie and Allysa and their families.  We surround a family when everything they have is lost in a fire.  That is living a Christ-like life.  That is putting flesh and bone to the ministry of Christ.  That is why taking the time to wade through the garbage, our biases, and our prejudices are so important.  Pastor Hidalgo sums it up perfectly, “When we are willing to sit in the pain, to walk with one another when life’s path is difficult and to shoulder one another’s burdens when they are too heavy, we become an embodied promise. We become living proof that while life can sometimes be too much, through the goodness of our loving of God displayed within us, we can move forward together.” Amen.