Personal Testimony - It’s Just Too Much

Life Talk with Craig Lounsbrough

How many times have you felt that there’s just no use? There’s just no sense in going on. You know, we’ve made way too many mistakes. Or the hole that we’ve dug, or the hole that misfortune dug is just too deep. And it really doesn’t matter who dug it anyway because, either way, we’re not getting out it. We failed out of college, or we didn’t go to begin with. Or our marriage went away. Or our addiction won’t go away. Or our career goals always stall no matter how much we’ve invested in what we’re doing. The medical issues just keep happening. We can’t hold onto a friend to save our lives, or our family just can’t get along long enough to actually look like a family. The bills never stop. It’s always bad news. Our self-esteem is shot, our dreams are dead, the kids won’t call us, and we’re dreading tomorrow because it’s going to be the exact same thing all over again. How many times have you felt that there’s just no use?

And when we’re at that point, life doesn’t really matter all that much anymore. It’s just something that we tolerate until we’re tired of tolerating. It’s not about living. It’s about surviving. And at some point, after we’ve done it long enough, surviving ‘becomes’ our life. It ‘becomes’ who we are. It ‘becomes’ all that we do. And then, over time, it ‘becomes’ all that we think we can do, or should do. How many times have you felt that there’s just no use?

And you know, we try all kinds of stuff to fix this. We immerse ourselves in some self-help philosophy, or we’re on a mad hunt for the right podcast, or we’ve ordered the latest breakthrough book, or we’re hanging on the words of some person of prominence. We try change our diet, or change our attitude, or change our social circle, only to realize that all of that really never changes anything.

So, we’re in a hole. We blew college, our marriage is long gone, the addiction keeps showing up, our career is stalled, the doctors can’t figure out our issues, friends come and go, the family bickering doesn’t stop and neither do the bills, our self-esteem is shot, our dreams are dead, and the kids won’t call. Yeah. How many times have we felt that there’s just no use. I have. And I’m guessing you have too.

For me, when I’ve been at those places, the only thing bigger than everything that’s laid me flat is God. Some would say that God has failed them just as much as everything else has. And in my own life I’ve discovered that when I feel that way, it’s really a whole lot more about the fact that I failed God. Because God doesn’t fail us. He might not show up in the way that we want Him to. He might not engage all of this stuff in the way that we think is best. We might think Him to be too slow in the way that He works. Or we might not believe in Him at all. But what I can tell you is that with God, you never have to feel that there’s ‘no use’ because He’s got a ladder for every hole that you’re in, and a solution for every problem that you have.

So get your Bible out and read it. If you don’t have one, buy one or download a Bible app. Go to church. Call a pastor. Pray. Listen to Christian music. See what happens. Believe me, God’s got a lot of ladders, and He’s got an endless supply of solutions.