You Can’t, But I Can
- Larry Kutzler
- Nov 19, 2025
- 3 min read
I had a tough week last week. I usually don’t get down, and look at things negatively. I just don’t do that very often, but last week was a hard one. It seemed like I was a plugged pipe, stopped up with all the junk that gets dumped down a drain, and it stops the flow. I realized that much of what happens to us is 50% not our fault, and the other 50% is just the result of our decisions. In either case, it can be overbearing at times. As a result of my beaten-down-self, I wrote a Facebook post that is the theme of this blog.
I was listening to the incredible preacher Tommy Barnett, and I thought how can an 88-year-old still have the fire. Then I heard the Holy Spirit say to me, “You can’t, but I can.” At that moment, I knew God had spoken a word of encouragement into my soul. Nothing is as important as God encouraging you with the possibility of change, healing, restoration, and hope. Think about all the impossible circumstances in your life and apply it to that word, encouragement. Recently, I was so discouraged, so many changes, so many obstacles, and a big fat zero in the win column. I prayed, asking God to restore my beat-down-self. He answered me with this assurance, “You can’t, but I can.” I love God because He says, “I can.” ~Larry Kutlzer, Facebook Post
My percentages may not be scientifically accurate by the way, the 50% is not my fault, and 50% is bad decisions, but my gut tells me that is what happens to me. However, during all of what happens to me, I know I can’t affect much of what troubles me. I can’t change the world, I can’t change those I pray for, I can’t seem to do the things I should, and I end up in a state of, “I can’t.” That was the state of my depression of late. I just can’t get done what I want to, I can’t change the mistakes I have made, and I can’t make people different. As the old saying goes, “The only person you can change is yourself,” and even then, it comes down to “I can’t.” Then Holy Spirit whispered to me, “You can’t, but I can.”
When the Holy Spirit spoke those words to me, I kept hearing, “But I can, but I can, but I can.” Philippians 4:13 states that very thing, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” It is the reality of these “I can” Verses in the Bible that gives us the assurance that we are not alone in the struggle to live a life for Christ. The reality that I am not my own, I belong to Jesus, He paid the price for me to be live debt free from my sinful mistakes, and from the circumstances that are not my fault. This changed my attitude from depression to thanking God for Jesus, and the wisdom of a caring Holy Spirit.
Take Away
Into our lives will come those days when nothing seems to be going our way, and you have no wins in the win column. Yet, remember, those are the days you realize those days are not based on the facts … those are based on the feelings. The facts are found in His Word that describe all trials as opportunities to draw closer to the One who loves you and gives you promises that will get you passed the feelings to the reality that, “You can’t, but He can.”
Challenging the Culture with Truth … Larry Kutzler