Don't Put God in a Box...But What Exactly Does That Mean?

       For those of us who were introduced to Christianity at a young age, likely one of the first things we were told about God is that He is big. Of course, as we mature in our thinking, we come to realize that it makes little sense to speak of the dimensions of an immaterial Being. But when we’re younger, this simple statement avoids getting too technical while effectively communicating quite a bit about the nature of God. 

       Similar to the idea that God is “big” is the admonition not to put God “in a box”. Of course, we don’t literally mean a box anymore than we literally mean “big”, but this phrase is still meaningful to many of us. Usually, the idea behind this phrase is that no limit can be placed on God: because of this, we should not be worried when troubles come, because God will always be “bigger” than the “storm.” In other words, often when we say “don’t put God in a box”, we mean that God is powerful enough to come through in whatever way we might need. 

       But is this the only possible meaning of this phrase? What if it has less to do with imposing limits on God and more to do with imposing our expectations on God? What if, by trying to avoid putting God in a box, we might actually end up putting Him into an even smaller one? 

       It may be “putting God in a box”, for example, to declare that we know for sure He will rescue us from a particular problem or situation. By acknowledging that He’s powerful enough to do whatever it is we have in mind, we feel like we’re avoiding putting Him in a box; but have we considered what is actually His will? It’s too easy for us to assume that we know God’s will based on our own sense of what we think is best in any given situation. 

       So when I think of putting something in a box, I think primarily not of the fact that the contents are limited and contained, but that whatever it is is being placed in a convenient place, ready to be retrieved whenever I need it. I know exactly where it is and I can pull it out whenever I want. When I’m done with it, I can put it away and go about my business. 

       This brings to my mind the portrayal of Aslan, the lion who plays a role reminiscent of Jesus in The Chronicles of Narnia. In The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, upon hearing that Aslan will be arriving soon (and that he’s a lion), one character nervously asks whether he’s safe. Another character replies “Safe? Of course he isn’t safe! But he’s good.” There is a profound point illustrated in this reply. The point was that ultimately, Aslan was a lion. He had teeth and claws. He was dangerous and caused his enemies to tremble in fear. He sometimes led the characters in the story into danger and asked them to do things they thought would be impossible. Later in the same book, another character remarks that he’s not a “tame” lion. Perhaps most significantly, he seldom did what anyone expected or thought would make sense. Often the characters were very frustrated with his choices. But ultimately, they trusted him, because they knew he was good. 

       So maybe putting God in a box means to imagine Him as “tame” or “safe.” What are the ways in which we do this? 

       Perhaps we view our relationship with God primarily as a source of great benefit to ourselves without any sacrifice or risk. It is our nature to imagine ourselves as the center of our own story, and God as a supporting character who merely provides us hope and happiness and assistance when we need it. 

       Perhaps we take general principles, such as the fact that God is good, and then we draw specific conclusions based on our own assumptions. We assure ourselves that God would never let us be too far removed from our comfort zone or faced with too much difficulty, because we’re sure He wouldn’t give us “more than we can handle.” Or we may be convinced that God will deliver us from a certain trial because “just know” that this would be best in our specific situation. Since God is good, He must agree with us. We may even grasp on an intellectual level that this is a problematic assumption, but when we find ourselves in the middle of trouble, it’s easy for our emotions to take over and to slip into this kind of thinking. 

       Perhaps we invoke God in the decisions we make, declaring too hastily that we feel a particular choice is what God wants us to do, in order to create a sense of assurance that we have made the best choice (and to discourage anyone from questioning our conclusions). Conveniently, His desires and plans just happen to line up with ours. We pull Him out of our box as if He were a rubber stamp and then put Him away again when we’re done. 

       Perhaps we simply imagine God as a kindly old grandfather who does little more than spoil His children (or I guess grandchildren in this case). It’s too easy to get so caught up in how much God loves us that we think of nothing else than all the wonderful things ways in which He must want to bless us. God is not merely a wish-granter. Obviously God’s love is a significant part of who He is, but we must be careful not to ignore His other aspects, such as justice, holiness, etc. As I’ve argued in another blog, our happiness is far from God’s greatest desire. 

       Perhaps we find ourselves in a dire situation and simply make the decision for God that He certainly will use His power to rescue us. This may be one of the most common situations in which, in an effort to liberate God from the box, we actually stuff Him further down in it. In other words, we declare that we’re sure God is going to supernaturally deliver us, and to anyone who questions this, we remind them how big and powerful God is and refuse to doubt that He is able to do whatever it is we need. But the question was never about what God can do, but what He will do. We have decided that He must act...but must He? Only He knows the answer to that question in any given situation. 

       Ultimately, we must remember that we are merely minor characters in a story of which God is the center. He will not always do what we would like, or what we think is best. In fact, often He will do nothing when we think He should. Part of having respect for God is recognizing our place relative to His and being wary of making too much of our expectations of Him, no matter how much sense they may make to us. Perhaps it’s best to conclude with a slight twist on C.S. Lewis’s description of Aslan: “Good? Of course God is good! But He isn’t tame.”

Is It True that God Never Gives Us More than We Can Handle?

       “God will never give us more than we can handle.” How many times have we heard (or said) this phrase? Likely enough that some may wrongly assume it appears somewhere in the Bible. But is it a true statement? 

       I suspect the assumption that this idea appears in the Bible is based on 1 Cor. 10:13, which says, “No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.”
While this may seem to be a similar idea, the verse is distinctly talking about temptation, while the phrase we are discussing most often seems to be applied in a more general sense. The context also sheds additional light on Paul’s intended message: he precedes this verse by listing some of the sins the nation of Israel committed in the Old Testament, such as worshiping idols, constantly complaining, and other ways of trying God’s patience. He then makes the statement in the verse above. Even if we were to set aside the fact that this has to do with temptations rather than general trials, it seems to me that his main point is not about how much God will allow them to be tempted, but rather, that their temptations are not unusually difficult or burdensome, and are not greater than what others had faced. 

Returning to our main topic, the phrase “God will not give us more than we can handle” likely, in most cases, will be taken to mean that God will not allow us to go through trials, or to suffer, beyond what we can endure, based on our individual tolerance. Perhaps the verse from 1 Corinthians does not say this exactly, but isn’t it something we can conclude based on God’s goodness? If God is good and wants what is best for us, how could He want us to be pushed beyond our breaking point? 

To answer this, we must begin by considering what it actually might mean to be burdened with something that is “beyond what we are able to handle.” If something is more than we can handle, does it mean it would result in our death? This seems to be the most logical definition, since, if death were not considered “more than we can handle”, nothing lesser could be either. But clearly this is not the case, since many Christians have gone through trials and suffering that did result in their death, and God let it happen.  

       What, then, does “more than we can handle” actually mean? I would like to suggest that such a thing does not exist. It can’t, unless God has limitations, because God’s presence and sustenance will always be sufficient for whatever we may face. I don’t believe God closely manages our level of difficulties and trials, choosing a harder life for those who can handle more and going easy on those who can’t handle much. It is not that God limits our difficulties to a particular level, but rather, that nothing could be “more than we can handle” with His help. 

       This does not, of course, mean that nothing will be difficult. In fact, it means that we can be certain we will face many terribly difficult situations. And the fact that God has promised to be with us through these trials does not mean we won’t experience despair, exhaustion, and sorrow at times, or in extreme cases, even death. We should never make anyone feel as if we’re downplaying the severity of their trials by telling them it’s all okay because God is with them. We will not always be “okay”, but that isn’t the point of this life anyway. Our mission is to serve God, and sometimes this will involve suffering.  

Further, if it were true that God prevents each of us from enduring trials beyond our ability to manage, it would mean that God refrains from pushing us toward greater levels of strength and dependence on Him. If we never face anything beyond our current ability, this assumes that our current ability is fixed and can never increase. Does God merely coddle us instead of pushing us outside of our comfort zone? Doesn’t it make much more sense that God would prefer that we face things that seem to be beyond our ability to handle, in order that we may grow more in strength, character, and our reliance on Him? 

So, in the end, rather than saying God will not give us more than we can handle, I think we ought instead to say that there is nothing we cannot handle knowing that God is with us and that the purpose of our lives is not personal happiness or fulfillment, but to give our lives for the sake of God’s will for us. And we ought to be willing to suffer through anything as long as it brings Him glory and helps us become more refined and mature.