“What If I Can’t Handle It Anymore?”

Have you ever said, “I can’t handle it anymore!”

Some of us don’t need to be reminded how stressed we are but the statistics say stress is a factor in five out of six leading causes of death. These include heart disease, cancer, stroke, lower respiratory disease, and accidents. We live in a very stressful world, that’s no surprise. A pastor once said,

Stress is the gap between the demands placed upon us and the strength we have to meet those demands.

Adrian Rogers

I would like to share with you a few practical principles regarding stress management.

God Will Not Give You More Than He Can Handle

Notice, I did not say ‘what you can handle.’ The misconception that God will not give you more than you can handle is actually not in the Bible. Some of us are fighting the things that God is empowering us to flee from, but the Bible does not say that God will not let you have trouble you cannot handle, He says He won’t let you have a temptation that you will not be able to handle. God will not give you the strength to fight temptation but to run from it.

No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.

1 Corithians 10:13

Have you felt like life, challenges, breaking curses, setting new standards, raising a family, furthering your career, or fulfilling your calling is harder than you originally thought it would be? Apostle Paul wrote that at one point, he was burdened beyond his ability to bear.

We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about the troubles we experienced in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead.

2 Corinthians 1:8-9

However, the trials taught him that God would not let him have more than He could handle. His trust and reliance in God would see him through.

When God Does Not Remove Struggle, He Renews Our Strength

He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary and young men stumble and fall;

Isaiah 40:29,30

This verse doesn’t say that those who wait on the Lord will have their struggles removed or their problems eliminated. God’s solution is not to reduce the problem but to increase our strength. If God removed every struggle, we would never be successful. Every success requires stress. Every blessing carries a burden. I want you to shift your prayer. Instead of saying, “God, take this struggle away,” say, “Lord, increase my strength.”

God wants us to get stronger so we can conquer and outlast our struggles.

Tough times last long, but tough people last longer.

God doesn’t ask you to use your strength, He asks you to discover His.

I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

Philippians 24:10

We don’t fail because problems are big; we fail because our strength is not enough.

If you falter in a time of trouble, how small is your strength!

Proverbs 24:10

God’s Strategy Is Found In God’s Strength

The challenge with stressful times is that they seem to not have an end to them; it feels like your future is gone and you don’t know if the pain or trial will ever end. In those moments, people tend to look for a way out and end up making poor decisions. Stressful times cloud your judgment and make it hard to think clearly.

When David was stressed, he didn’t ask God for direction, he devoted himself to God and looked to Him for strength.

David was greatly distressed because the men were talking of stoning him; each one was bitter in spirit because of his sons and daughters. But David found strength in the Lord his God.

1 Samuel 30:6

If you’ve lost your house, job, marriage, or even your identity and you feel like you’re losing your mind, run to God. Make God your strength. When you strengthen yourself in God, He will give you a strategy.

Three things happen when you make God your strength:

1. If the storm doesn’t stop, you will rise above it.
2. You will surge like an athlete and not get tired. It’s important to know that you can be in the center of God’s will and still, accidents can happen. However, these things will not define you but refine you.
3. You will stick through the trials like a soldier.

A lot of people get complacent when life gets predictable. The only time they are burning for God is when something is burning up in their lives.

When you make God your strength, you will not be moved by your feelings but by your devotion and faith to God.

Don’t just run after God because you are under attack, hurting, or broken. Run after God because you love Him.

Prayer

For those of you going through stress, and you need God to infuse you with strength, place your hand on your heart. Make your request known to God and the Lord will cause His peace to overwhelm you right now, in Jesus’ name.