2 Corinthians 1:8 (NLT)
We think you ought to know, dear brothers and sisters, about the trouble we went through in the province of Asia. We were crushed and overwhelmed beyond our ability to endure, and we thought we would never live through it.
“God won’t put more on you than you can stand.” It pains me to hear someone say this. Look back at 2 Cor. 1:8 again. Paul said they “were crushed and overwhelmed beyond our ability to endure, and we thought we would never live through it.” In other words, Paul was saying God put more on them than they could stand. The problem with most Christians is that they get the goodness of God and the pain of this life mixed up. Do you ever struggle with this? When everything falls apart and crumbles at your feet, do you question the goodness of God in your life? If you do, then join the crowd. We all, at one time or another and to one degree or another, have struggled with this.
When you choose to live under the Kingdom authority-rule of God, then know that God will intentionally send affliction into your life with a purpose. The objective is not to destroy you but to develop your spiritual life. Paul said that the affliction that he experienced in 2 Corinthians 1:8 taught him something about the goodness and strength of God. Look at what he says in 2 Corinthians 1:9 (NLT), “In fact, we expected to die. But as a result, we stopped relying on ourselves and learned to rely only on God, who raises the dead.”
Paul learned one of the most valuable lessons anyone living in the Kingdom can learn. He learned to stop relying on himself and start relying on God. Pain has a way of burning lessons deep within your heart. When you learn something through affliction, you don't easily forget it.
So will God put more on you than you can stand? Absolutely! But you must remember that there is always a Kingdom lesson to be learned in the pain. The purpose of your pain is to open your eyes to the goodness, strength, and glory of God in your suffering. When you get to the point that you find yourself breaking under pain but you see the goodness of God, then you're truly seeing the Kingdom; you’re learning Kingdom values, and you're no longer living for yourself and this world.
So dear reader, the next time you find yourself under a load that you're unable to bear, shift your focus from your circumstances to the goodness of God. Don't allow the pain of your life to distort your perception of the goodness of God. Know this: God is always good, He is faithful, and He is always working in the lives of His children, especially in the pain and sorrow.
This is a difficult Kingdom concept to live out, but it's important that you get this: It's in the breaking, the falling apart, and the undoing of everything you trust in this world that you will truly begin to understand the goodness and faithfulness of God. Your faithful, loving Heavenly Father doesn't only want you to live in His Kingdom, but He also wants to build grit in your soul. He wants you to no longer live for yourself and this world because they will crush you. But He wants you to live for Him and His Kingdom because that is where you will find purpose, meaning, and eternal joy.