When I Can’t Handle It, God Already Knows

In review of 1 Peter 5:5 I read, “God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.” (CSB)

If I start thinking about all the problems I’ve ever had, then I’ll realize that they all have one thing in common: me. When I reach that point, the best choice is to humble myself and confess my inadequacy.

This is what King Jehoshaphat did when three powerful armies were coming to wage war against him. He said, “We are powerless against this mighty army that is about to attack us. We do not know what to do” (2 Chronicles 20:12 NLT).When he confessed, he was able to worship instead of worry.

Confessing my inadequacy can be hard. Humbling myself is rarely easy or fun.

God wants me to humble myself because the Bible says, “God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble” (1 Peter 5:5 CSB).

Pride repels God’s grace, but humility attracts it. God wants to pour his grace into my life, but he won’t do it as long as pride is in the way. So I have to humble myself and confess my inadequacy.

Here’s the great thing about confessing this: I’m just telling God what he already knows! When I tell him, “I can’t handle this,” that is no surprise to God. In fact, Jesus said, “Apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5 NIV).

But Philippians 4:13 tells the rest of the story: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (NKJV).

Christ is powerful; I am powerless. There is no middle ground. But like the verse says, when I rely on him, Christ will give me strength.

So, when I find myself facing the impossible, I have to confess my inadequacy. He won’t force himself into my situation. But he is ready and waiting to respond to my confession.

In summary, God will resist me when I'm proud, but will give grace when I'm humble. The one thing in common for all of my problems is me. The best choice I have is to humble myself and confess my inadequacy. Confessing this is hard and humbling myself is not easy or fun. However this is what God would want me to do. Pride on my part will repel his grace, but humility will attract it. He won't pour grace into my life as long as pride is in the way. When I confess, I'm not telling God anything new, he already knows. Christ is powerful, and I am not. When I rely on Christ for strength, he will give it. So when I'm facing the impossible, confess my inadequacy. He is ready and waiting to respond to my confession.

In impossible situations, confess my inadequacy, humble myself. God will provide grace and Christ will provide strength. I’m realizing that perhaps my pride may be getting in the way of working through some impossible situations at work. 

I confess to you Father that I am inadequate and over prideful of my skills and abilities for these recent impossible situations at work. I ask for your forgiveness for my pride and ask you to help through the power of the Holy Spirit to be humble. I ask for your help, clarity and sound reasoning and planning to work through what I’m facing. Thank you Father for your grace. I also ask for wisdom and guidance for my day, my work, my leadership and my interactions with others. I also ask for continued healing for my body from the infection. These things I pray through your Son Jesus name, Amen.