3 Things God Didn't Promise You

Christians love to claim God's promises. Too much month and not enough money? Matthew 6.  Claim it. Still single? The entire book of Ruth. Your Boaz is somewhere. Going through any trial of any kind at anytime? Romans 8:28. Because it somehow applies to everything.

I'm not downing on this concept (okay, I am a little bit, but for a good reason). One of the most powerful things we can do as Christians is to cling to the promises God has made us. His word is true and His character faithful; what better salve to an anxious heart than to acknowledge the promises of an omniscient, infallible being? I can think of none. Inevitably, however, someone will walk one of this world's several bitter roads, cling to a "promise," and then experience something downright hellish anyway. All too often this is because we don't understand what God's promises to us are, or because a cultural Christianity perpetuates false ideas of God's promises.

So, without further ado, here are three things God didn't promise you:

1. God will never give you more than you can handle.

Um. No. I know it's a cute thing to put in a song and, let me tell you, people who are going through really awful things love to have it quoted at them, but I see no Biblical basis for this. Feel free to weigh in on this, I'd love to be wrong, but I've yet to hear a good argument for the principle behind this. 1 Corinthians 10:13 tells us that God will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. That's true. It's also very different than enduring suffering beyond what you can bear. Succumbing to a temptation is a choice. Enduring a hardship is often not. Christ tells us that His power is made perfect in our weakness. He tells us that, apart from Him, we can do nothing. So, in that regard, I think this quote is crap. It suggests that we're assigned struggles based on our strength. And, furthermore, it suggests that we're assigned struggle. Period. I know that there are times when God will call us to be tried, but to assume that every bad thing you experience in life is a direct result of God is wrong.

2. You can do anything. (Circa Philippians 4:13)

Indirectly translated, the verse actually says this: "I can do all this (sometimes it says "things") through Him (Christ) who gives me strength."  It does not say "I can do anything I want," nor does it say "If you can dream it you can do it." The passage leading up to this verse talks about learning to be content in all circumstances, which leads me to believe the more accurate spirit of this verse is that, in any circumstance you may encounter, Christ's strength is available to you through His spirit.

3. God works all things together for your good.

As best as I can figure, this is a misguided interpretation of Romans 8:28, which says "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." I've written about this before, so I'll spare you a complete re-hashing of that, but here are the highlights: Because we want to believe that nothing bad can happen in our lives, we take the hard things that inevitably occur and we assign some kind of positive meaning to them. We affirm ideas like "this awful thing is just the bridge to something great," or "God is just using this to test me," and we wind up either A) wildly disillusioned with God, or B) waiting for a happy ending that may not be coming in the way we anticipate it. I'm not saying that God doesn't try people--there's Biblical evidence to the contrary-- or that something hard may not eventually pay off, but to assume that's always true is dangerous. It disregards one of the most basic truths presented in the Bible: We live in a fallen world. Sometimes bad things happen just because of that. And, further, it's a popular idea to individualize that verse-- to make it God talking specifically to and about YOU, when really, he's talking to and about all believers. Well, that changes things.

I'm all about claiming promises. I like when someone as powerful as God promises me something. But I'm also a big believer in understanding exactly what it is He promises.