I was just thinking about how tough it is for many Christian Believers to receive a new revelation. In fact Jesus said that people will reject new wine because they prefer the taste of the old stuff.
I know that it has been a bit disappointing for me in the moments I realized that after I’ve taught something repeatedly over the course of many weeks, I will still hear people quote the old wine phrases to their families and friends in the midst of crisis.
One of those old wine statements is, “God won’t put on you more than what you can bear.” This phrase has been quoted by thousands of Christians for scores of years and it is absolutely WRONG.
Nowhere in the Bible does it say that God won’t put on you more than what you can bear.
The Bible actually says, from 1Corinthians 10: 13 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 is not talking about the trial you are going through. It’s not talking about the consequences one may be going through due to bad choices. TEMPTATIONS and TRIALS are two different things and this scripture is not talking about trials.
Paul was talking about the wilderness journey that Israel was going through on the way to the Land of Promise. Along the way, they faltered because they kept giving in to the temptations to rebel against God.
So when someone has been stricken with a disease, destruction, divorce, depression, disaster, or even death, this is not the appropriate scripture to quote to them.
The main reason this is not the appropriate scripture is because TEMPTATION does not come from God. So to tell someone that God won’t put on them more than what they can bear, is to accuse God of placing temptation on people.
The Bible specifically says in James 1: 13-14, Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone.
Yet, many will read this blog and still hold on to the old wine revelation because this new wine revelation forces us to own up to our responsibility in the circumstances of our lives. Some of our circumstances are of our own doing. Some situations are simply the results of living in a fallen world. Some circumstances are the result of what the Bible calls Time and Chance.
Other circumstances are just direct assaults of demonic attacks that have been launched in every generation in our families.
But make no mistake about it! Our hardship is not some burden or trial that God is placing on us just to see how much we can bear.
But like a toddler learning how to walk, one has to let go of the old religious quotes, in the way a child must let go of a chair or table in order to take their first steps.
However, many Christians refuse to let go of the old phrases and familiar quotes. Therefore, they never mature and come into a wonderful new understanding of walking with God.
But you can take a step today. Stop quoting this phrase in order to encourage yourself or someone else. That phrase is not Bible. Instead turn to what the Bible actually says about trials and tough times in 2 Corinthians 4: We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed—
Look at what Paul said when he prayed about a particular trial in his life: Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
These are the kind of words we need to speak to ourselves and speak to others to encourage them. Not the tragically incorrect interpretation of scripture that accuses God of putting harsh and cruel problems upon people.
Come on… Let go of the old stuff and take your first steps into the NEW.
