Sometimes it’s too much. Sometimes your head races with every heart wrenching thought. You can’t think straight. You can’t focus on work. You can’t get out of your head. It’s just too much. I know I’ve been there too, feeling like you can’t catch a break – like whenever you finally have life going your way something goes wrong. Never fails. Right?

Have you cried out to God in your car, all alone, with tears running down your face begging for everything to be okay? Begging God to help you survive. Telling him you can’t possibly take any more? I’ve been there, I’ve screamed, I’ve begged, I’ve cried, I’ve pleaded. I’ve S U R V I V E D.

You see, we often hear, “God will not give you more than you can handle”. That’s not the case, God will give you more than you can handle – because that’s how you grow stronger.

When you are drowning. When you are gasping for air; splashing and trying with all of your power to get above the water. When you feel your body tiring and you take that last breath and finally close your eyes to let the water overtake your body. That moment, when you give up, is when God picks you up out of the water, and carries you to safety. Is God being mean? It may feel like that. You may want to yell and scream “Why didn’t you help me sooner?”. “Why did you make me go through that?”

God sometimes allows situations in your life to appear hopeless because He is trying to direct your focus onto Him. You may feel like giving up because you can’t seem to fix the situation that you are in, and no one you know can fix it either. But, he can. You need him – he doesn’t ever give you more than you can handle, because when you feel like giving up, he will hold you up; he will walk next to you, and when you can’t walk anymore he will carry you.

Lord, thank you for rescuing us in so many ways. Thank you for carrying us when our bodies cannot go any further. Thank you for redirecting our focus to you. Help us to remember that you will give us more than we can handle alone, but that you will never give us more than we can bear together.

Joshua 1:9 “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”