“For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.” – 2 Corinthians 1:8-9
Don’t think you’ll make it through life easier than the Apostle Paul! God will absolutely let you go through things much harder than you’re capable of handling. God will permit you to be tested and burdened beyond your ability so that you despair as Paul despaired. The whole of 2 Corinthians testifies to this reality. Whether you’re serving the Lord diligently or mostly serving yourself, God will let you be pushed so far past your strength, abilities, and endurance that you’ll despair of life itself.
Why would a good God let that happen? So you’ll learn to rely on Him which is infinitely better! So you’ll tap into the unlimited resurrection power of the Holy Spirit Who lives in you if you believe in Jesus. So that through Christ you’ll learn to do vastly more than you could ever possibly accomplish in your own strength. So that through meeting God in the fire you’re able to offer the comfort of God to others going through fiery seasons of life.
Paul was a man of enormous talents, energy, and zeal for God. Yet he had to learn to let go of all that and rely on God’s strength and suffering was his classroom. It was that reliance on God’s strength that made Paul the transformative figure that he is for the world. That same strength is available to every follower of Jesus but we must get over doing it ourselves. We must get past gritting our teeth and grinding it out in our strength. We must cry out and acknowledge our weakness, yielding everything to God. Then we’ll be raised from that point of death to ourselves to a powerful life empowered by God!