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--February 22 2017--

Friday, January 18, 2013

Did He Really Say That?


Did God really say, "I will never put more on your shoulders than what you can handle"?

This morning, I had this conversation with my husband. I told him, God will never put more on your shoulders than what you can handle and he told me that wasn't Biblical. Huh? That stopped me in my tracks and I was determined to show him that yes indeed this was Scriptural. Guess what? I was wrong. Gulp, I have yet to apologize to my husband as I kind of got lost doing some research and here is what I found.

1 Corinthians 10:13 NIV
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.

Notice in this verse it says tempted not bare. This verse is talking about idolatry. The temptation that is mentioned is the one to abandon God to other things, like other gods, sex, etc., and how God has provided for us a way out. James 4:7 tells us how. Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Psalm 68:19-20 NIV
Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior,
    who daily bears our burdens.
Our God is a God who saves;
    from the Sovereign Lord comes escape from death.

Psalm 68 is talking about sin and God's provision from escaping the effects of sin, eternal death, not from a stressful job, disease, financial dept or a poor relationship.

The opposite of the statement, 'God will never put more on your shoulders than what you can handle', is 'God will put more on you, in order to crush you.' This statement is true.

Hebrews 12:4-7 NIV
In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says,

“My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline,
    and do not lose heart when he rebukes you,
because the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
    and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.”
Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father?


So, it would be better to say that God will not put more on us than what Jesus can bare. And, my friend, He can bare A LOT. Actually, He bares all things.

Romans 5:1-5 NIV 
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

Isaiah 53:4-6 NIV
Surely he took up our pain
    and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,
    stricken by him, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions,
    he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
    and by his wounds we are healed.
We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
    each of us has turned to our own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
    the iniquity of us all.

You see, Jesus has taken it ALL for us. He is our burden bearer and when the load it just too heavy, we go to Him and ask Him to help us and He will. Jesus beckons us to come to Him. And I believe He does this in order for us sinful, prideful people to search Him out.

Matthew 11:28-30 NIV
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

The call for the Christian is to suffer and to bear the cross that we have been given or to take up the cross and help someone else.

Matthew 16:24-25 NIV
Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it."

Today, people think that the Christian life is easy, a breeze, if you become a Christians your life will be full of Bible studies, get togethers and no financial issues. But, that is not the case at all. If you think this then you are believing a lie. The Christian life is hard, tough and if you are following God in a close walk then you will be persecuted and pursued by Satan. Satan wants to shut the Christian up and by the looks of our world, he has done a pretty good job at it.

The wonderful thing is God pursues us too! He sent His Son for us and if you read some of the Old Testament stories you will see that God does indeed pursue. Just go read the story of Jonah and just how far Father went to seek after him.

Luke 19:10 NIV
"For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

John 6:44 NIV
“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day."

Although Satan attacks us, God has promised us a way out. Humble yourself and submit to God, resist the devil and he will leave, James 4:7. This is a spiritual war and a Christian that is fighting and wearing their armour are sure of attacks. Jesus is a Warrior Himself and if we keep ourselves in alignment with His Word, then He will protect us and crush the area we are fighting in of the influence of the devil.

Galatians 6:2 NIV
Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.

Christians are to bear each others burdens. We are to pray for one another and help one another out. If you see your brother struggling financially, help him out. If you see a homeless person hungry, feed them. We are the hands and feet of Jesus and we are to do His work while we are here on earth. There are many people out there who don't know God and His awesome promises and love, we need to spread His word and the best way to do this is by preaching His Word followed by spreading His love in our actions.

So the statement, God will not put more on your shoulders than what you can bare is 100% false. That in itself is a god, the god of self, thinking that we can bare the burden of sin. That we, in our own strength, can walk through this life and come out victor. No way! If God found it pleasing to crush His own Son, then it is pleasing for Him to crush us too. For if we turn to Him and seek Him He will help us during this trial just like He helped Jesus while He hung on the cross.

Proverbs 8:14 NIV
I love those who love me,
    and those who seek me find me.

Reference: Misused Bible Verses

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Blessings,
<><

22 comments:

  1. Awww love this!! Such great research and along the way so encouraging!! Thank you!

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    1. Hi Jennifer,
      Thank you for reading.
      Bllessings,
      <><

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  2. yes!! we have had this discussion in our house..give everything to HIm...can we really believe He is that good? that merciful? that faithful? amazing to just think about...

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    1. Hi Annmarie,
      It is really amazing to think about how awesome God is. It is so neat to put all these Bible verses together and read how great our God is.

      Blessings hon,
      <><

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  3. Dear Child of God, Firstly, I hope your husband is okay. Secondly, what a blessing to have your statement corrected, which led you on a journey to seek out the TRUTH. Corrections in this way are indeed a blessing, because this is how we learn and grow in spiritual maturity. I appreciate you sharing the research you have done, so that we too may learn, and may be always be alert and wise to make sure that we are always quoting God's Word in the true context. God Bless!

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    1. Hi Kerrie,
      My husband is just fine. :) And even better now that I apologized to him.

      I am not sure where I heard this quote "I will never put more on your shoulders than what you can handle", I think from the Catholic church as I was raised Catholic. This incidence shows us that is it good to make sure we read and know Scripture from our own research and not rely on other people. Just like the Bereans, they were known for checking Scripture. Acts 17:11 Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.

      Yes, it is good to share what we find out with others.

      Blessings,
      <><

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  4. This is one of those really thought provoking topics. I have heard that saying: God doesn't give us more than we can bare, for much of my life and never thought twice about it. But the idea that God won't give us more than Jesus can bear is ... a little bit different. It puts a new twist on things. If Jesus can endure torture and death - then I can endure the temptations that this life brings (and much of them seem self-inflicted).

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    1. Hi Jess,
      It sure does put things in a different perspective when you think about Jesus and how He bares all things and all we have to do is give it to Him and He will help us through whatever we are going through.

      Thanks for stopping by. :)
      Blessings,
      <><

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  5. I am so thankful that He is with me as I bare the cross of suffering. Going through a little bit of that right now. I know He will bring me through!

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    1. Hi Barbie,
      Blessings and prayers on your journey. He is right there with you. Isn't that just amazing?!

      Blessings hon,
      <><

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  6. Yes we grow through endurance. I love the verse, "Do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you." I was reading the other day about a man who grew up not knowing God. Then at 15 he was transported to heaven which changed his life. Jesus told him that the hard times are to help him grow strong in his faith, and that he was proud of his endurance. I believe that. We have to trust and know we are on a lesson in life, and even though its hard to bear that sometimes, our reward is at the end.

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    Replies
    1. Hi Crystal Mary,

      Good verse, I love that one too.

      That's sounds like a cool story.

      The reward for the Christian is when we are in heaven with Him.

      Thanks for visiting,
      <><

      Delete
  7. This is an excellent, uplifting and refreshing post. We all need a good dose of honesty in our daily walk with Jesus, not sugar-coating, but just the plain truth.

    I don't know whether I have joined your site, but if I haven't I am going to! If and when you have the time, please check out my blog too!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello T-Childs,

      Thank you. Yea a good dose of honesty keeps a person humble.

      Thanks for stopping by and commenting, I will be over to visit you.

      Blessings,
      <><

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  8. What a true privilege to be a Child of God. I love this verse that you gave: Psalm 68:19-20
    "Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior,who daily bears our burdens. Our God is a God who saves; from the Sovereign Lord comes escape from death." Those "prosperity gospels" speak directly against the words of the Lord in John 16:33, where Jesus says, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” God doesn't say that we will not go through the "storms of life", but that He'll be with us through the storms of life. The temptations of sin will also come because (this side of heaven) we have the flesh, the world and the devil to deal with, so we need to walk in the Spirit always (Galatians 5:16 & 25) and Stand firm when attached (Ephesians 6:10:18). Is the Christian life easy? No. But it is exciting, fulfilling and rewarding. God is good ... all the time. Thanks for the great post and that outstanding poster you made of the footprints in the sand. Blessings.

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    Replies
    1. Hi Brian,

      Thank you! :) I totally agree with you when you said, Is the Christian life easy? No. But it is exciting, fulfilling and rewarding. It is so exciting!!! The walk with God is so amazing and when you are in His presence and the Holy Spirit is there, well that just totally tops the cake! Can you just imagine how amazing it will be when we are in the physical presence of God? Oh it makes me so excited and I can hardly wait.

      Thanks for visiting brother, I always love it when you stop by.
      <><

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  9. You are always an encouragement. Thanks so much for your kind comment on my scripture and photo.

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    1. Hi Elizabeth,
      Blessings hon, thanks for stopping by.

      <><

      Delete
  10. Hi Child of God,
    You are exactly correct in what you say here. Jesus did not promise us that if we come to Him, everything will be smooth sailing. He said, "In this world you WILL have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." Also the Bible say's "I can do all things through Christ Jesus." No matter what trials, persecutions, heart ache one may experience here on earth, the Lord will get us through it and preserve us for His heavenly kingdom. There is absolutely nothing bigger that God. Satan and all his evil forces combined is not powerful enough to separate us from the love of God. So we need not worry about a trial being more than we can bear because nothing is so overwhelming that we cannot endure with Christ.
    Awesome post, my friend and may God bless you,
    Ken

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    1. Hi Ken,
      Thank you. I just love confirmation!! Make me know that I am on the right track and understanding His Word.
      I am learning that the more I seek to nail a fleshy aspect of myself the more God will test me and put me through trials and give me opportunities to see if I have finally nailed that flesh. It is a grueling, painful process but I just know that the end result will be worth it.

      God Bless brother,
      <><

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  11. Hi child of God,
    yes, when He has tried us we shall come forth as fine gold. I love the fact that the trials we face refine us, white marble is formed through extreme pressure and heat. Speaks eh? God bless.

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    1. Hi Brenda,
      Yes, that pressure and heat speaks volumes. :) I believe we will all be these amazing gems that will shine and twinkle by the time we make it to heaven.

      Blessings sister,
      <><

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