Good Question, Preacher...

As I sat with a friend's mom in the hospital emergency room, I watched her eyes beg the question that she didn't have the energy to ask out loud.

And I am pretty sure that I yelled it myself in a fit of frustration when my son ran through the office yesterday with stapler in hand and the "RECEIVED" stamp plastered approximately 72 times across every inch of his bare skin.

Whether it's been your response to something relatively mundane or a situation so heartbreaking that it has taken your breath away, I'm pretty sure you've asked the same question recently, too:

"How Much More Can We Take?"

It was the title of Sunday's sermon at our church, and I'd already decided that it was a darn good question.

Now, did the man behind the pulpit have an equally compelling answer? I was all ears...

My ears were not disappointed. And my heart was blessed. So blessed, in fact, that I am having to muster up a substantial amount of self-control not to just re-type the sermon outline below and link you directly to the podcast to take a listen for yourself. (I think I'm going to provide the link anyway once it's up...)

Instead, I just want to post a few things that the Bible says on the subject, and leave it to sink in however it's supposed to for you today.

John 16:33 "These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world."

Isaiah 26:3 "You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you."

Joshua 1:9 "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go."

The common theme of these verses is that we really can't take much at all. And it appears that God's not asking us to.

He is just asking us to take it to Him.