You Will Get Through This
Another day of social distancing. Another day of distance learning and homeschooling. Another day of using technology to stay in touch with our family and friends. Yet another day of wondering what will happen next. And another day of reading the news about more sicknesses, and sadly more deaths. Without trying to sound heartless, it’s like the movie Groundhog Day. Does anyone remember that movie? It’s about the news reporter who, while reporting on Groundhog’s Day, gets stuck in a crazy loop of living the same exact day over and over…and over again. It’s starting to feel like that, isn’t it?
While a set routine can offer stability and a sense of peace, especially for our kids who need that stability right now, it can also bring on feelings of frustration, helplessness and discouragement. Those are not the feelings we need to help us survive during these times. If we have others depending on us they, most definitely, will be looking to us to see how we handle ourselves in these times. It doesn’t mean there is anything wrong with us if we do experience these feelings. Please don’t think I am trying to negate any hard, difficult feelings. You’re not alone in them…we all have these feelings. What we do with them, that’s what we focus on. Do we let the desperation and fear consume us? Do we let the weight of the uncertainty and the feelings of helplessness knock us to our knees? Or do we stand firm in our faith knowing that God will prevail and provide? Having our children see how we deal with these feelings is so important.
Now, we have spoken before about the fact that God specifically tells us we will have hardships:
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33 emphasis mine)
God does not just take away all of the heartache, trials and pain from the human experience. We will have tough times, we will experience loss, we will face unexpected events in our lives…just like we are right at this very moment. Read that verse from John again. notice how Jesus tells his disciples to take heart, that He has overcome this world? That! That is what we lean on during these trying times.
Some days just putting one foot in front of the other is a challenge. Trying to keep a positive attitude around the family and holding it all together can be overwhelming. There have been nights where I am so happy to tuck my kids in to bed and crawl under the covers to just let the tears fall. The weight of the world can be heavy on our shoulders. The expectations we put on ourselves, or that we feel from the outside world can be huge. (Because let’s face it, the world can be pretty cruel when it comes to how we should handle ourselves during these times.) Trying to keep the outside world from affecting our kids, shielding them from the news and the ugliness can be daunting. Worrying about the safety and health of family and friends can cause anxiety. How do we do it? How do we make it through these days that seem unending, that seem to be in a continuous loop? We lean in to God!
“He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not grow faint.” (Isaiah 40: 29-31)
When we hope in the Lord, when we seek Him, He will give us strength and power. His strength and His power will be ours. There have been several occasions during the past few weeks where I have prayed to God asking Him for His strength to get me through because I knew I wasn’t going to make it on my own. (The story of me trying to get through the grocery store while pushing two carts with three weeks of groceries in them, on my own, is for another time. But one that requires me to say that I needed God’s physical strength…literally!) Why? Why do we need His strength? Why are we instructed to hope in the Lord? Oh, my friend, it is all for His glory! When we make it through to the other side of our hardships, we can boast about our Father and how He alone helped us! That is glorifying our God, showing His glory to those around us!
Look back at those verses from Isaiah. I just want to briefly point out that Isaiah mentions even the youth will grow tired and weary. I think we forget that the world events…this pandemic…affects our children. We can keep them from the news and the Facebook feeds, but they will hear things either from their parents’ conversations or from their friends. I know that I can forget, at times, that my youngest can feel the emotional toll of it all and that I need to be aware of that. We must try to remember that while the days can feel mundane to us, they can feel even more so for our children who are used to being in school and having a set schedule every day. What an amazing opportunity for us to show them God’s power and His continuous blessings in the midst of the unknown.
In 2 Corinthians, Paul is writing to the church, telling them that he had prayed, repeatedly, to have God remove the hardship he was going through,
“But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I take delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Corinthians 12: 9-10 emphasis mine)
Paul knew that he could not get through what he was facing on his own. He knew he needed God’s strength and God’s power to help him through. He knew this and he boasted about God’s provisions, even in the midst of persecution. When we admit how weak we are, when we turn to God and pray for His help, He will give us the strength we need to persevere! That is why we hope in the Lord.
How do you feel once you realize that you have made it out of a hardship? When you woke up that one morning, you know the one, and the realization that you have weathered the storm, what crossed your mind? Do you feel accomplished, excited, relieved, blessed? All of the above? I’m sure we have experienced at least some range of those emotions, but is that how you felt in the midst of that storm? Were you elated while drudging through the middle of the muck? Were you ready to celebrate while trying to figure out the very next step? I’m going to go out on a limb here and say no. Let’s look at what Paul wrote to the Romans about going through trials and hardships:
“…and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit who he has given us.” (Romans 5: 2-5)
Oh my, we rejoice in our sufferings? And why would I do that? I, for one, am not happy about having to worry all day, every day, about the safety and health of my husband who still goes out to work. I do not rejoice in the fact that supplies and groceries are very limited. I know there are some of you who are not rejoicing about sick family members or friends. No, these are not joyful moments. Paul does not mean that we should be up, dancing and celebrating. He is reminding us that these trials are forcing us to hope in the Lord; to look to God for our strength; to persevere through the help of the Holy Spirit and to rejoice in the work that God does in us through these trials.
James writes, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.” (James 1: 2-3) Again with the joy thing? James, like Paul, is not saying there should be celebrating going on. He is reminding us that when we face trials and rely on God, that faith is developing our perseverance. The more we face with faith and hope in God, the stronger we become in persevering through the dark moments.
On a ‘normal’ day the world throws us some pretty hefty baggage to handle. So when we are in the midst of a global issue, such as the one we are in right now, we must rely on God to get us through. We are all experiencing trials, hardships, mundane routines, health scares, uncertainties, loneliness. We are not alone in these feelings and we must keep that in mind. It’s not us against the world, we can’t look at it like that. We must look at is as the world against these trying times.
“Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings. And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.” (1 Peter 5: 6-11)
My prayer for you is that you can rejoice in the Lord during any difficulty you may be facing. May you allow God to work through you while He strengthens you. May the peace He extends to you flow through you to your children and those around you. I pray that you lean in, persevere and hope in the Lord. May you feel His power restore you during your weakness and may you soar on wings like eagles!
See you on the front porch.