Life. Is. Hard. There are certainly seasons of smooth
sailing, but things can get rocky quick. Life altering
circumstances unfold. Heavy burdens weigh us down. Sometimes we absolutely blow
it and can’t imagine things ever being right again. At some point, we find
ourselves in the middle of a storm and if you’ve been through a major storm you
know the struggles don’t always end when the storm ends. How do we
praise when we’re hurting? How do we hope when we’re breaking? How do we trust
when we’re waiting? Where do we turn when we don’t know how to put one foot in
front of the other anymore? What do we think when nothing makes sense? We need
something that can keep us held firm in the storm. Something unwavering.
Something sure. We need an anchor. We. Need. Jesus.
When I’m pressed, perplexed, and knocked down what I know to
be true is this: Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life (2 Corinthians 4:8, John
14:6). He is the unwavering anchor we need. In Him we have eternal salvation (1
John 14:10; Romans 6:23, 10:13), but He also saves us to walk in newness of
life day to day (Romans 6:4). His Word gives hope that we can run and not grow
weary, walk and not faint (Isaiah 40:31).
Let me confess, I have felt weary. I’ll get real,
there are days I have fallen flat on my face. So where do we look in our
weariness? The simple answer, we look to Jesus. I get it though, sometimes that
seems hard and there are days it feels impossible. The storms cloud our view of
Him and at times feel like they might sweep us away from Him. I hope to
encourage you with a few things that have helped me survive life’s storms and
the wake of their destruction. I don’t have it all together and I certainly
don’t have all the answers. I am one struggling person held by the anchor of Jesus
hoping to encourage another.
Encouragement #1: Dare
to hope.
“Yet I still dare to
hope when I remember this: The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His
mercies never cease. Great is His faithfulness; His mercies begin afresh each
morning.” (Lamentations 3:21-23 NLT)
I have faced a time in my life where by all human reason all
hope seemed lost. Maybe you’ve walked a path like that or a few paths like that.
Before the author of Lamentations declares his hope in and praise of God in the
verses above he says, “The thought of my suffering and homelessness is bitter
beyond words. I will never forget this awful time, as I grieve over my loss
(Lamentations 3:19-20 NLT).” There are things that we will never forget. Hurt,
suffering, loss, and many trials we face are truly “awful.” We need to grieve
our losses. Daring to hope does not mean you wash your face, pull yourself up
by your bootstraps, and carry on with a strong façade like all is well. Daring
to hope means you remember what is true, remembering you have an anchor. You
remember that God’s faithful love never ends. His mercies never cease and they
are fresh each morning. You remember that while life might appear to be
spinning out of control and the ground beneath your feat feels anything but
firm, God is in control. He is firm. He is steady. He is faithful. Don’t push
your feelings away or try to ignore the reality of something that is bad. Weep.
Scream. Cry out to God. And as you do, have hope in the Him who truly holds the
whole world in His hands.
Encouragement #2: Fix
your eyes on Jesus.
“...let us run with endurance the race that is set before
us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the
author and perfecter of our faith...” (Hebrews 12:1-2 NASB)
What are your eyes fixed on? The debt piling up, the person
who hurt you, the rebellious child, the unwanted diagnosis, the memory of what
was lost? Maybe it’s the list of everything that has to get done today as you
attempt to juggle 30 other burdens while little ones cling to your ankles begging
for all of your time and attention? These things have a way of pulling our gaze
like a magnet and weighing us down like a semi-truck is resting on our
shoulders. Paul encourages us to do something different. He urges that we “…fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is
unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal (2
Corinthians 4:18).” Sometimes it feels like the storms we endure are anything
but temporary. Fixing our eyes on Jesus and the hope of eternity is not ignoring
the reality of our struggles, but it keeps us focused on our help and our
relief. He saves us, He’s sent the Spirit to help us, and relief in eternity is
certain in Jesus. Don’t lose heart! He is preparing for us an eternal glory
that far out weighs our earthly troubles (2 Corinthians 4:16-17).
Encouragement #3: Trust
Him.
“Commit your way to the Lord, trust in Him, and He will act. He will bring forth your
righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday. Be still before the Lord, and wait patiently for Him.” (Psalm 37:5-7
ESV)
Trusting. Being still. Waiting patiently. If you’re good at
these things or feel they come natural to you please send me a message to give
me your secret. Personally, I am prone to wanting to jump in to fix myself, everyone, and everything. This hardly turns out well. Notice the language in the verses above from Psalms 37. We are instructed to commit, trust, be still, and wait
patiently. These aren’t all passive. It takes action on my part to do these
things, but the action is not towards solving the problems all around me. The
action I am to take is towards God. Psalm 55:22 says, "Cast your burden upon the Lord and He will sustain you." If you aren't praying (talking) to Him, it's pretty hard to be trusting Him. To trust Him I need to be on my knees in prayer, listening to
what He says in His Word, and walking this out with people who point me to Him.
Reach out to your church leadership for help. Schedule an appointment with a
trained Christian counselor if things are simply too heavy. Let people help you
trust Him and point you to Him. Don’t attack the problem entrust yourself to Jesus
instead.
Encouragement #4: Press
on.
“Not that I have already obtained this or am already made
perfect, but I press on to make it
my own, because Christ Jesus has made me His own. (Philippians 3:12 ESV)
Things will not be perfect this side of heaven and you will
not be perfected this side of heaven. We are in process and will be until we
meet Jesus face to face. Our path is often one of straining and pressing on. Do
not misunderstand me here, our salvation is a gift of God we cannot earn it and
we do not work to secure it (Ephesians 2:8-9, Romans 8:31-39). He saves and
secures us, but we aren’t mindless puppets. Trusting and following Jesus in a storm isn’t always
easy and we often find ourselves doing things contrary to what is popular.
Don’t throw in the towel. Don’t give up. Don’t try to press on in your own
strength, press on by pressing in to Jesus.
Encouragement #5:
Hold firmly to the Word of Life.
“Hold firmly to the word of life.” (Philippians 2:16 NLT)
Want to get active in dealing with a storm? Read the Bible.
Memorize verses and whole books if you can. Put it on
notecards, post-its, and pretty art work on your walls. Listen to music filled
with truth from the Bible. Listen to the Bible on a cd, an app, or a tape if you
still have those. Let it be where you can see it. Let it be where you can hear
it. Pray for the Spirit to help you understand it. Cry out to God in faith to
help you where you don’t believe it.
“O taste
and see that the Lord is
good; How blessed
is the man who takes refuge in Him!
(Psalm 34:8 ESV).”
“With all
my heart I have sought You; Do not let me wander from Your commandments. Your word I
have treasured in my heart, That I may not sin against You (Psalm
119:10-11 NASB).”
“Let my
soul live and praise you, and let your rules help me.
(Psalm 119:175 ESV).”
Encouragement #6: Count
it all joy.
“Count it all joy,
my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds (James 1:2 ESV).”
Circumstances sometimes leave us more ready to weep or
scream than rejoice, but maybe these reactions do not have to be an either/or.
The Psalms give example after example of expressing feelings about a situation
while turning to God in joyful praise. My greatest joys have come as God
transforms my heart and mind, not by the transformation of my circumstances.
The group Casting Crowns captures this idea of “counting it all joy” well in
their song “Praise You in this Storm.” This song dates me a little, but I’m ok
with that. Here’s the chorus:
And
I’ll praise You in this storm
And
I will lift my hands
For
You are who You are
No
matter where I am
And
every tear I’ve cried
You
hold in Your hand
You
never left my side
And
though my heart is torn
I
will praise You in this storm
I
lift my eyes unto the hills
Where
does my help come from?
My
help comes from the Lord
The
Maker of Heaven and Earth
Maybe you’re sitting there thinking, “where does my help
come from?” Friend, your help comes from the Lord, the Maker of Heaven and
Earth. Dare to hope in Him. Fix your eyes on His Son Jesus. Trust in Him. Press
on holding firmly to the Word of Life. Count it all joy as you live a life of
praise to Him. He will anchor you through this storm.