“I Just Can’t Do This. It’s Too Hard!”

My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Psalm 73:26

[i]

“I just can’t do this. It’s too hard!” How many times have I said this to myself? I suppose you have said it, too.

Whether as a young person trying to study for exams or writing a term paper, or a young mother attempting to manage a household and hold down a job, an aspiring musician attempting proficiency on an instrument, or perhaps an older person facing an ailing body, we have all had times when we have considered tossing it all away. Whatever “it” is we see the challenge as too difficult, and we give up. We don’t have the physical, emotional, or spiritual strength to meet the goal. We know we are not omnipotent. We cannot bear the world on our shoulders.

As another year has passed — eighty-eight of them and counting — and yes, I see the inroads of the aging process keenly. I keep the results at bay by slowing down, while at the same time keeping body, mind, and soul active. I do what I can do. I know my strength is small. I think of the old hymn, “Jesus Paid it All,” and the words by Elvina M. Hall[ii]:

I hear the Savior say,
“Thy strength indeed is small;
Child of weakness, watch and pray,
Find in Me thine all in all.”

God has a role for each of us to play, a task to perform, an interaction to make for every day of our life. Only in His strength can we do what He has given us to do. We do not need to bear the world on our shoulders. All He asks us to do is to walk in the truth, love each other, and obey His commands, (See 2 John 4-6). Sometimes that seems too hard, and we think we cannot put one foot in front of the other to do what we know we should.

Below are some scriptures to encourage you when you think “I just can’t do this. It’s too hard!”

2 Corinthians 12:9 – “My grace is all you need, for my power is the greatest when you are weak.” 

Nehemiah 8:10 – “Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”

Deuteronomy 31:6 – Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.

Philippians 4:13 – I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

Isaiah 40:31 – But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

Isaiah 41:10 – Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Exodus 15:2 – The Lord is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him.

1 Chronicles 16:11 – Seek the Lord and His strength; seek His presence continually!

Ephesians 6:10 – Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.

1 Corinthians 16:13 – Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.

Exodus 15:2 – The Lord is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him.

Challenge: If you are a child of God you can pray for strength for anything He has laid on your heart to do. Nothing is too hard for God.

“I know that you can do all things,
and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.” Job 42: 2

Prayer: Father in heaven, I can’t do this, but I know You can do through me whatever you ask of me because of Jesus and in His name, Amen.

[i] https://www.greekmythology.com/images/mythology/atlas_large_image_29.jpg

[ii] Jesus Paid It All > Lyrics | Elvina M. Hall