Guest Post: I Can’t Stands No More

I Can’t Stands No More

Guest Post by Heart and Soul Health Coach Mike Fenton

Once there was a cartoon character named Popeye the Sailor Man (Robin Williams portrayed him in a movie version of the cartoon), and whenever Popeye would get fed up with being bullied by Bluto (his cartoon adversary) or became exhausted with life, Popeye would grumble, “I’ve had all I can stands, I can’t stands no more!”  He would then squeeze a can of spinach until it popped open, then eat the spinach and instantly he would have supernatural strength to handle anything.

When life gets tough and the daily grind is starting to take a toll on us, wouldn’t it be nice to have one of those cans of spinach to give us the strength and energy to get us through? Wouldn’t it be great if life was that easy? It can be, we all the ability to tap into our inner strength that can and will give us all the strength and energy we need. In the Bible it is written in Psalms 34:19 that, “A righteous man may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all.” If we have the Lord, we have the strength.

Sometimes life is frustrating as we struggle through one battle after another. The devil keeps attacking our attitude, and we may think to ourselves, if only I could find the strength to fight him off.

Often we wait until we are so beaten down there seems to be no way out, no help in sight. The last place we think to look is inside ourselves. We continually look for that “can of spinach” to get us through, and until we reach a higher level of consciousness we will continue to seek the external things in life that we feel are what we need to get us through. We must remember the external things in life are temporary and just as a can of spinach will lose its effectiveness, so will anything else external we put our hopes into.

Are you saying, “I’ve had all I can stands, I can’t stands no more” and searching for supernatural strength? Look to Philippians 4:13 which says, “I can do everything through him who gives me strength.”  I may feel like I’ve had all I can stand and I can’t stand anymore, but if I call out to God, He will give me strength no matter how big the problems are.