{"id":692,"date":"2013-11-25T06:41:58","date_gmt":"2013-11-25T11:41:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/crywoof\/?p=692"},"modified":"2014-12-23T23:13:14","modified_gmt":"2014-12-24T04:13:14","slug":"the-deadly-ambiguity-of-aphorisms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/crywoof\/2013\/11\/the-deadly-ambiguity-of-aphorisms\/","title":{"rendered":"The Deadly Ambiguity of Aphorisms"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

In all my years of Christian living I\u2019ve often heard the saying, \u201cGod will never give you more than you can handle.<\/strong>\u201d Recently I\u2019ve seen a couple of posts that reject this saying<\/a> with great force<\/a>. On the other hand, there are those that insist that it\u2019s simply true.<\/p>\n

The problem here is that we\u2019re dealing with a saying, an aphorism, a maxim: a pithy statement of wisdom. The key word here is \u201cpithy\u201d: an aphorism is meant to convey a large idea in a small amount of space. It\u2019s like an iceberg: 90% under water. Or like the title of a book: it\u2019s a tag that helps you find the full and complete thought you\u2019re looking for. <\/p>\n

In short, to correctly interpret an aphorism you have to know the context, which isn\u2019t present in the aphorism itself. Context is always vital. This is why proof-texting using scripture references is a problem, incidentally: it takes the verses out of context. A friend of mine used to illustrate this by taking two verses from different parts of the Gospel and putting them together: \u201cHe went and hung himself.\u201d \u201cGo and do likewise.\u201d Not the right answer.<\/p>\n

Consider the saying, \u201cFamiliarity breeds contempt.\u201d Sometimes it does, and the point, I think, is that if push yourself into the lives of others you may well attract their dislike. But in other cases, as someone commented on my post \u201cMonogamy Fulfills Eros<\/a>\u201c, familiarity breeds content.<\/p>\n

The point of an aphorism, of any small nugget of wisdom, is to be useful in practice. I think this is the key to interpreting them. If an aphorism seems useless to you in your current circumstances, then either it wasn\u2019t meant to apply in your context, or you\u2019re not interpreting it correctly. (Of course, it might also simply be wrong\u2026but that only can be true if there\u2019s no obvious interpretation that\u2019s useful.)<\/p>\n

In the case of \u201cGod will never give you more than you can handle,\u201d both Nate Pyle and Calah Alexander point out that Christians often<\/em> run into situations that are more than they can handle, situations that knock them down, that they cannot take in stride, that they cannot cope with. And to tell someone in such a situation that \u201cGod will never give you more than you can handle\u201d is to tell them that they ought<\/em> to be handling this. It isn\u2019t comforting; it\u2019s a slap in the face, the sort of thing one of Job\u2019s friends might have said to him in his extremity.<\/p>\n

But I don\u2019t think that\u2019s what the aphorism is meant to mean; and I don\u2019t think it\u2019s a saying to be told<\/em> to someone in extremis. I think it is meant to be a reminder to me<\/em>, when I\u2019m having problems, that God is in charge, that God is present, that God is not trying to crush me out of existence. Even if I am on the verge of despair, God is with me; and though I might be tempted to despair, by His grace He will not let me be tempted beyond my strength. Even if I die, if I hold fast to Him and to His grace, He will bring me through, and I will spend eternity with Him in Heaven.<\/p>\n

In short, it\u2019s not about handling things in human terms or with human strength. It\u2019s about holding fast to God.<\/p>\n

But, you might say, that\u2019s not what it says! And read one way, you\u2019re right. (And my reading of it might not even be what was originally intended. But I find it useful to me; and judging from the comments I\u2019ve seen on the above two posts, on Facebook and elsewhere, many others have found these words similarly useful, and a lifeline in horrible circumstances.<\/p>\n

One final note. When you\u2019re confronted with someone in trouble, listen<\/em> to them. Help them if you can. Love them. Ask if you can pray for them. Acknowledge the problem. Even if you feel useless, your prayers are a boon, as Simcha Fisher describes here<\/a>. Don\u2019t spout aphorisms about what they can or can\u2019t handle, or you might drive them closer to despair.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In all my years of Christian living I\u2019ve often heard the saying, \u201cGod will never give you more than you can handle.\u201d Recently I\u2019ve seen a couple of posts that reject this saying with great force. On the other hand, there are those that insist that it\u2019s simply true. The problem here is that we\u2019re […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1131,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,43],"tags":[21,19,15],"class_list":["post-692","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christian-living","category-deep-thoughts-from-the-doghouse","tag-christianity","tag-language","tag-quotations"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Deadly Ambiguity of Aphorisms<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In all my years of Christian living I've often heard the saying, "God will never give you more than you can handle." 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