Sometimes things become so overwhelming and intense that we think it’s the end. We want to give up, and we say to God: ‘I just can’t do this anymore’. But when we reach this place, we can either let the circumstances lead us to give up, or we can let them lead us to breakthrough. Paul wrote: ‘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’ (2 Corinthians 1:8-9 NIV). We can be encouraged by this because it shows that even those in the Bible who were really close to God can also be really close to breaking point. When we reach that point it doesn’t mean we’re bad Christians. Trials and troubles come to all of us. James tells us: ‘Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial’ (James 1:12 NIV). So how can we feel blessed rather than overwhelmed? One of the keys can be found in the words Paul wrote after he confessed they’d ‘despaired of life itself’. He wrote: ‘But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead’ (2 Corinthians 1:9 NIV). When we’re going through things, we need to remember that there’s purpose and blessing in it. Our circumstances can actually become a platform for God to demonstrate His unfailing love and care for us. God says: ‘When you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned.’ We might face testing, and we might feel we’re at breaking point, but through it all God is with us and when we turn to Him He’ll help us journey towards breakthrough. 

What Now?

Personalise Isaiah 43:2 (use ‘I’ and ‘me’) and then speak it out every day this week.