God will Never give You more than you Can Handle

There is something about the phrase "God will never give you more than you can handle".  As a child it gave me comfort, but as an adult, it has left me wanting. Not that I don't believe it entirely, but just that something seems missing. For a long time, I could not put my finger on it, but that phrase just hasn't felt completely accurate. As of late, I believe I've figured out the missing piece.

Please do not mistake that I get why people say "God will never give you more than you can handle". In a sense, this is very comforting. But I also feel it can be misleading if you only take it at face value. What is your definition of handling something? I don't know about you, but I know that I have gone through and dealt with some things in my life that I don't know that I have 'handled' them as well as I should have. I'm not neccessarily saying I 'could' have done things differently at the time, but maybe in a different time of my life or with different tools, I could have or would have handled things differently.  I certainly know there have been times when I would have LIKED to have handled things differently, but given my frame of mind, my stress level, my (fill in the blank) it just wasn't possible at the time. I know I am not alone in this.

Here is the interesting thing. We've all heard this phrase. We've all most likely even said this phrase to someone going through a hard time. But I wonder if we've really thought through the real meaning of what we are telling ourselves or others. Of course we all are able to somehow get through our trials. Some a little more gracefully than others. Some with more conviction than others. But that darn phrase still would plague me a little every time someone would spout it off like it was supposed to make the tough times somehow more bare-able. And for me, it didn't completely.

Here is the clarity that I have been given. And if you are like me, here is my gift to you.... It isn't that "God will never give us more than we can handle". I believe it should be "God will many times give us more than we can handle by ourselves, but we are not alone in our trials. We are never alone. With God by our side, we can handle anything." I don't know about you, but I find strength, peace, and comfort in that. There are gonna be times that much is asked of us. And it's gonna be tough. And sometimes we are quite frankly not going to want to do it or go through it, but we do because we are not alone in the hard times of it. We are not alone in the strength that it will ultimately bring us. And if we will rely on Him, we WILL become strong. We will learn and gain faith and become the tool in His hands. What an amazing blessing and realization. I don't know about you, but I find immeasurable peace in knowing that even though this changes nothing of life's trials, we are buoyed up by Him. When we stumble, He helps us up. When we cry, He wipes away our tears. The point, is that in the 'handling', we are not alone.