More than I can handle

It’s been one of those weeks where everything feels like too much, and I am reminded of one of those cliche statements that people use when they don’t know what else to say: 

God never gives you more than you can handle.

The sentiment is bothersome, because it assumes that God is preoccupied with handing out hardship. It takes for granted that struggles and pain come from God, while the Bible teaches us that: 

“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows”–James 1:17

Earlier today, I read the Parable of the Three Servants from Matthew 25 and realized that I am often no better than those who mischaracterize God with careless platitudes. You see, I’ve read the parable many times—always interpreting it through the filter of whatever situation I am facing and usually coming to the conclusion that my response should be to exercise great faith and diligence with what I have—be it time, talent, or treasure—so that God will entrust me with more.

Isn’t this what the first two servants got right? Wasn’t the third servant’s failure caused by laziness and fear? Perhaps this is part of the truth that Jesus meant to convey, but in reading the parable again, I can’t help but notice the third servant’s gross mischaracterization of his master: 

“Master, I knew you were a harsh man …”–Matthew 25:15

At best, it’s a poor excuse and an attempt to avoid personal responsibility. At worst, it’s evidence of the man’s bitterness, lack of gratitude, and mistrust of the master’s motives. Maybe the third servant’s first mistake was a lot like mine. Maybe it was missing that fact that …

God is kind enough to always give us exactly what we need to accomplish His purposes.  

Like the master in the parable, God knows each of our circumstances—-the conditions we’re living in because of a variety of factors, including our own choices and the reality of living in a broken world. He knows our personalities—both the way He created us and all the ways we’ve changed in response to situations, good and bad. He knows our abilities too.

The word “ability” in verse 15 is typically translated “power” when used elsewhere in the New Testament. The master was familiar with each of the servants and with the gifts he was providing. He gave in proportion to the power (strength or ability) they had to steward the gift well.

This communicates the idea that God graciously entrusts us with gifts that we are capable of managing, considering the particulars of our lives. To take what we are given and use it for His glory is to trust the wisdom of the Gift-Giver, believing that whatever may be lacking in us will be “made up” by the One whose “power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor. 12:9). 

And if what we have seems less desirable than what others have, trusting God’s wisdom means realizing that He uses a different kind of measuring stick. (We may be surprised by what earns the Master’s praise in eternity!)

There is some truth to the cliche statement then, though not as a commentary on trials and tribulation. 

God never gives you more than you can handle, because then it would be a burden and not a gift. 

We should receive what we’ve been given with thanksgiving, and use it for His glory. More than our time, talent, and treasure, it is our trust in God that needs to be enlarged. 

To fixate on amounts—whether of money, aptitude, spare time, or something else—is to forget that the Master we serve multiplied one boy’s lunch so that it fed thousands. He used a man who feared public speaking to stand before Egypt’s pharaoh and lead millions out of slavery. He also paused to watch an unnamed widow give her last pennies to the temple treasury and then told that story to those he would use to change the whole world.  

God is after our trust, whether trusting Him means taking a leap of faith toward something impossibly big or being faithful with something outwardly small.

Will you trust Him?