Does God give you more than you can handle? Does it seem like you are burdened with “life” to the breaking point? Does God permit this to happen, that the trials and tribulations of daily living may seem beyond your ability to cope?
No.
While God permits evil to occur (so that good can be drawn out of it), He never allows us to become overburdened by troubles. He always gives us the graces needed to overcome whatever is befalling us. Whether or not we choose to accept and cooperate with that grace determines how well, or if, we survive. We still have free will and can reject God’s help.
From St. Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians:
1 Cor 10:13
No trial has come to you but what is human. God is faithful and will not let you be tried beyond your strength; but with the trial he will also provide a way out, so that you may be able to bear it.
It is my understanding that the above passage refers mainly to temptations, but I also feel that it refers to any trial.
To think that God intentionally loads up pain and suffering upon an individual implies a God with a serious personality disorder. It does not speak of a God who is kind and loving, a Father.
Moreover, no one is promised a life free of suffering. Even Paris Hilton went to jail. (!) The degree to which we accept suffering in our lives as a necessary component of our salvation is the degree to which we will be able to cope with whatever sorrow and sadness comes our way.
Sometimes it seems overwhelming. Sometimes it seems that God has abandoned us. I feel that way more often than not. But after a fashion I come around and realize that as a Christian I have no right to bemoan and bewail suffering. “Why me?” becomes “Why not me? Who am I that I can be above what Jesus Himself felt? Rejection, betrayal, aloneness, pain and agony?”
It is during these times that we gaze upon the crucifix, at the broken and bleeding body of Christ on the Cross and gain strength. It is not an easy task to meditate on, but the exercise is usually fruitful. Meaning, we gain from the attempt. Especially if we see our own suffering in perspective.
Burdens can be strengthening. If we survive this, we can beat the next thing more easily. We learn to rely upon a trust in God more. Therefore, we become closer to God. Through our pain and suffering we realize that we are being treated the way His own Son was treated. We may not be crucified in the sense of an Imperial Roman capital punishment, but we are crucified in other, smaller ways. But still painful, especially when we feel so alone.
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