What the tradition actually says about being in debt
This needs to be read as one piece rather than in fragments, because the fragments get used as weapons.
The tradition takes unpaid debt seriously. There is a report that the believer's soul remains suspended by his debt until it is settled, and another that all the sins of a martyr are forgiven except debt. Those two get sent to people in the middle of a crisis and they terrify them, which increases exactly the avoidance that keeps the debt where it is.
Now the rest of the same picture, which almost never gets sent. There is the report that whoever takes people's money intending to repay it, Allah repays it on his behalf, and whoever takes it in order to destroy it, Allah destroys him. The line there is intention, not the existence of the debt. If you borrowed in good faith and cannot currently pay, that report is on your side and not against you.
And the Qur'an, in the middle of the passage on riba, instructs the creditor. If someone is in hardship, then there must be postponement until a time of ease, and remitting the debt as charity is better. The Qur'an puts the obligation on the person owed. It positions you as somebody who is owed time.
Allah does not burden a soul beyond its capacity, and that is a statement about what you are required to carry, not a demand that you cope silently.
Qur’an and Sunnah
وَإِن كَانَ ذُو عُسۡرَةࣲ فَنَظِرَةٌ إِلَىٰ مَيۡسَرَةࣲۚ وَأَن تَصَدَّقُواْ خَيۡرࣱ لَّكُمۡ إِن كُنتُمۡ تَعۡلَمُونَ
If the debtor is in difficulty, then delay things until matters become easier for him; still, if you were to write it off as an act of charity, that would be better for you, if only you knew
Qur’an 2:280
لَا يُكَلِّفُ ٱللَّهُ نَفۡسًا إِلَّا وُسۡعَهَاۚ لَهَا مَا كَسَبَتۡ وَعَلَيۡهَا مَا ٱكۡتَسَبَتۡۗ رَبَّنَا لَا تُؤَاخِذۡنَآ إِن نَّسِينَآ أَوۡ أَخۡطَأۡنَاۚ رَبَّنَا وَلَا تَحۡمِلۡ عَلَيۡنَآ إِصۡرࣰ ا كَمَا حَمَلۡتَهُۥ عَلَى ٱلَّذِينَ مِن قَبۡلِنَاۚ رَبَّنَا وَلَا تُحَمِّلۡنَا مَا لَا طَاقَةَ لَنَا بِهِۦۖ وَٱعۡفُ عَنَّا وَٱغۡفِرۡ لَنَا وَٱرۡحَمۡنَآۚ أَنتَ مَوۡلَىٰنَا فَٱنصُرۡنَا عَلَى ٱلۡقَوۡمِ ٱلۡكَٰفِرِينَ
God does not burden any soul with more than it can bear: each gains whatever good it has done, and suffers its bad- ‘ Lord, do not take us to task if we forget or make mistakes. Lord, do not burden us as You burdened those before us. Lord, do not burden us with more than we have strength to bear. Pardon us, forgive us, and have mercy on us. You are our Protector, so help us against the disbelievers.’
Qur’an 2:286
Abu Hurairah narrated that:The Messenger of Allah said: "The believer's soul is suspended by his debt until it is settled for him
Jami' at-Tirmidhi 1078graded sound, albanifull report
Narrated Abu Huraira:The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "Whoever takes the money of the people with the intention of repaying it, Allah will repay it on his behalf, and whoever takes it in order to spoil it, then Allah will spoil him
Sahih al-Bukhari 2387graded sound, sahihaynfull report
It has been reported on the authority of Amr b. al-'As through a different chain of transmitters that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said:Death in the way of Allah blots out everything except debt
Sahih Muslim 1886graded sound, sahihaynfull report
Translation: M.A.S. Abdel Haleem, The Qur'an, Oxford University Press, 2004.