Have you heard the cliché Christian saying that goes, “God won’t offer you greater than you may handle”? It’s not that there isn’t some truth to this aphorism. 1 Corinthians 10:13 says that “God is faithful; he is not going to allow you to be tempted beyond what you may bear.” But it’s misguided insofar because it places the emphasis on what we are able to manage— through our own strength and sufficiency—relatively than what God will provide once we inevitably fall short.
I remember the late nights on my cold kitchen floor—my body frail from months without an appetite, rivers of tears, burning cheeks, and the sensation of being alone late into the night, every night. Even at a time of life full of unexpected breakages, Jesus met me repeatedly on that floor as I cried out for him to reconcile, redeem, and renew. He listened to each spoken and stuttered prayer, my weakness on full display. Each minute felt like a marathon. But with every breath out and in, Jesus invited me into his sufficient grace strengthening my weakness along with his perfect power. As the Lord said to the apostle Paul, I felt in my life too: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor. 12:9).
Reaching the tip of myself was exactly what created space inside me for God to enter, and he washed me along with his mercy and clothed me along with his strength. My utter weakness became the dwelling place for his glory to reside. Yes, just as Paul declared, “Therefore I’ll boast all of the more gladly about my weaknesses, in order that Christ’s power may rest on me” (v. 9).
As a fallible human who has experienced suffering that many peers won’t share, I do know deep in my breath and bones that we are usually not meant to handle the burden of life’s hardship on our own. If God did indeed give us only what we could handle, there can be no need for a savior beyond ourselves, and the blood-drenched death of Jesus can be unnecessary. The weight of the world’s brokenness would rest squarely on our shoulders as we struggled through the broken relationship that will never be mended, the continuing illness we never imagined we’d should bear, and each other unknown set before us.
And yet, if we experience hardships beyond what we are able to handle, the blood of Jesus is the best undeserved gift we could ever receive. Our absolute inability to avoid wasting ourselves illuminates the fact of our absolute need for a savior.
With Jesus as our Savior, we are able to take great comfort in knowing his heart is tender toward our pain, as he too endured unimaginable sorrow. His innocence is evidence that he’s the just one worthy of being the Sacrificial Lamb for our sins. It is a weighty truth that the one who’s innocent must bear the burden and punishment of each sin, yet that is the very reason we must imagine Christ when he says his grace is sufficient. The glory of God shines ever brighter once we allow our weaknesses to be a proclamation of his infinite grace, power, and strength.
Even along with his sovereign strength, Christ didn’t reconcile, redeem, or renew the circumstances I once longingly prayed about on the kitchen floor. Instead, what I believed was solid eventually became dust. And yet, I discovered myself let loose—free from the expectation of a life on my terms, where suffering was contained and relationships were guarded. On the opposite side of self-reliance, I discovered rest in relationship with Christ—in reconciliation, redemption, and renewal in him, not in my circumstances.
May our weakness—within the darkness of nights spent on the kitchen floor, and in all other places where our fallibility becomes undeniable—be a testament to the strength of Christ our Savior who dwells within the depths and heights. May we trust in his sufficiency, for once we are weak, then we’re strong.
Kaitlyn Rose Leventhal is knowledgeable abstract painter who lives in British Columbia, Canada together with her husband and dog.
This article is an element of Easter within the Everyday, a devotional to assist individuals, small groups, and families journey through the 2024 Lent & Easter season. Learn more about this special issue here!
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