He Won’t Give Us More Than We Handle

I chuckled to myself as I realized God has a sense of humor. As I drove back and forth moving stuff to the apartment I realized that my stress level was pretty low. I had Friday off and there was no class on Thursday or Saturday which freed me up for packing, moving, and unpacking.

He knew. He knew that this would happen and He made it so it’s doable. Often I hear, “Wow, you must be busy” when I tell people how many children I have, work full time, and going to grad school. It can be busy but He wouldn’t give me more than I can handle.

At times I question God's promises. I don't think it's because of my lack of faith- it's more a lack of my understanding of why all of the craziness is happening in my life at that particular time. Over the past 6 weeks there has been more things happening in my personal life than I've felt that I could handle. I'll admit that I've been angry, bitter, depressed, and confused as to why everything has happened. One of the phrases I've heard time and time again from family and friends is that God never gives us more than we can handle.

I've never been ashamed or afraid to lean on God's promises in difficult times. Last night I decided to pull out my Bible and find what I had always assumed was somewhere in His word. "God will never give you more than you can handle."
First Corinthians 10:13 in the NKJV reads, “No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.” This Scripture teaches us a powerful principle. If we belong to Him, God will not allow any difficulty to come into our lives that we are not capable of bearing.

So, anything that comes our way, anything that tempts us, any tragedy that befalls us—we are capable of overcoming it and achieving spiritual victory. That does not mean it will always be easy. Quite the contrary—the fact that we may need a “way of escape” indicates that God sometimes allows difficult trials to come into our lives. We may not believe that we can overcome it, we may doubt our own strength to prevail, and we may even fail in the temptation. That does not mean, though, that we are not capable of overcoming that particular temptation. Whether it is a temptation to sin or a temptation to doubt God, God promises that we will be able to overcome it.

But what does it mean to “overcome” trials? It means the trials do not overcome our faith or our position as children of God, and we come through the trials intact. Our eternal destiny is not in danger because we are kept by the Holy Spirit, who was given to us as a down payment on our salvation. No trial can overcome that because it is of God. Therefore, the child of God will stand firm through the trials and come out on the other side still in God’s hand. This is proof that our salvation is real and our reward in heaven awaits us. James assures us, “Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.”

I know that God will work all things together for His glory and our good.

I know that no temptation is bigger than God.

I know that He is loving and safe.

How do I know that I'm not dealing with more than what I can handle? I'm sure other people have lived through and overcome bigger things than I'm wading through.
It's not that I don't trust Him. It's not that I love Him any less in the difficult times of life. I know that through doubt my faith is seeking understanding. It's not weakening, it's trying to grow.

Leadership

The leadership process is a total learning process. We all are leaders in our own way at different times in our lives. For example a father or mother with children, their children look to them for guidance. They also learn their values and about their culture through them. That is having leadership abilities. Friends look to each other for advice and different experiences that each of them have done. Some people perform leadership acts on the daily basis and don’t even realize it until they think about it or until someone brings it to their attention. That’s why it’s said that a part of learning about leadership is to always think about it.

In my personal life I’ve abused the power of my leadership position. Due to financial stress, no job stress, work stress, etc. I did not give my children and step-children guidance, love, and acceptance but rather, I ruled with an iron hand and it was my way or no way. I abused my position in the home because I could and now the effects are almost irreversible. As a leader, I also know it’s not time to give up, I have to keep fighting the good fight and for what is right. As a good leader I also need to know when to give in, when it’s no longer about the fight but is now about me.

In my opinion it is ironic that I am in a leadership program when in my personal life I have not been a good leader recently. Through my class discussions, personality quizzes, and various books I’ve read I have managed to figure out what kind of leader I am and what personality traits come into play when I’m in a leadership role, however, I have not yet figured out how to be a good leader through being a visionary or motivating people. This is because I usually don’t share my vision; I have a vision in my head but do not communicate it or communicate it well and trust that my followers will follow. I tend to keep it close to my heart and set out to accomplish the tasks myself to fulfill the vision. The road ahead will be long and arduous, filled with learning, but it’s a road worth traversing on.