In another post, I just saw the sentence, "God will never give you more than you can handle." The author of the post wasn't supporting this statement; it was just mentioned. But it reminded me that this is a very bothersome statement that I've heard many times throughout my life.

Of course, it all depends on what is meant by the verb "handle", but I would suggest that if one doesn't survive (even if there is an afterlife -- which there probably isn't) that's not an example of "handling it".

In that case, if god exists and is involved in peoples' lives (which is probably not true), god definitely gives many people more than they can handle. What about the tens of thousands of people that commit suicide in the United States each year? They couldn't "handle" it. I'm in no way putting them down; I sympathize. I know that sometimes life can be so painful that one just wants the pain to stop -- now. There are usually ways out of any situation, but often they require time and effort, and in the meantime it still hurts.

The point is, the quoted sentence is observably not true -- unless the goalposts are moved, as often happens. Unless it is argued that one must believe in order for it to apply. Unless it is argued that a professed Christian who commits suicide must not have been a true Christian in the first place. Et cetera... So the application of the sentence becomes more and more constrained. It's arrant nonsense.