When You Think” “I Just Can’t” or “I Can’t…Remember Who Can! By Anita Spencer (member of the Broadway street church of Christ Louisville KY)

 


                                           
 
 
Hello to my faithful Sister wherever you are,This is your letter in the mail (today) that is not a bill😊.
But I heard something that was just too good  not to share. Rather than take a chance on you not answering, or not returning a call, I decided to just mail/email it to you.One of my Brothers from Dallas preached in Longview during our Lectureship the week of June 9th.

I won’t kid you; June was a rough month for me, But, not too rough.. I had recently shared this comment with Mel regarding a situation:  “That’s it. I cannot take it anymore…” ☹
And, then the Brother from Dallas preached. He has been really ill, and it seems that every October, he hears (from the doctors) that he is at death’s door. And then, the joke (for lack of a better word) was:  He is still living.  But…it is October again….
He recently asked the church to stop praying for him to get better.  He said:  God has already answered that prayer and the answer is no. He told the congregation:  If you want to pray for me, pray that I am strengthened to endure to the end.

He shared that the Bible says in Jeremiah 1:5, God knows us better than we know ourselves and has know us longer than we have known ourselves. And, in I Corinthians 1:25, God is wiser than we are. And the bible tells us that God won’t let us be tempted beyond what we can bear, 1 Cor. 10:13.
Then he said:  So, that tells me that I don’t have the right to say:  I can’t handle it or I can’t handle this. God knows what I can handle.  Is it more than I can bear? Yes, all the time.  More than I can bear with God? Never.  So, therefore, if I am in the situation, I must be able to handle it because I am a faithful Christian. Jeremiah 1:5. Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, and before you were born
​I consecrated you.   I Corinthians 10:13, No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. 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 stand up under it.

2Cor. 1:8-10
We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raised the dead. He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and He will deliver us.

Look at the book of Job. He bore it all through his faith. He may have gotten mad at God for all the stuff He sent his way, but never doubted God’s power.
I was like, wow! OK. So, I do not have the right to say I ­can’t handle it. Got it.

What a change in my week when considering my life’s issues, struggles, weight, circumstances, afflictions, situations, hardships, trials, and tribulations from the standpoint of “I can do anything thru Christ who strengthens me”. Then I thought:  I knew this already. But, sometimes, I just forget. We must remember!

I love you. Take care. Still loving and enjoying every moment of this life,