A reminder for the days when life is hard
Recently after yet another “lively discussion” with my girl, I sat on the couch and cried. Because life is hard. It just is. And I somehow convince myself that means I am doing something wrong. Because surely if I were doing it right, there wouldn’t be so much struggle and frustration.
So there I sat with all my tears and doubts and fears and I remembered some words my friend Stacey wrote a few years ago: “I’ve pretty much fallen short in every category. I am tired and not really good for much right now. The trouble is, Lord, that I need to be amazing, and I’m fresh out of amazing. At least it sure feels that way. Lord, I’m dry. Empty. Hit the wall. I got nothing. I just thought I’d let you know. But then again, You already do.”
I needed to be reminded this life isn’t going to be easy. Living in a broken, fallen, sinful world is hard. During His last night with the disciples, Jesus spoke to them about the hard days ahea, “In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)
We’re going to have hard days, hard seasons. Honestly, life is just going to be hard. Like Stacey, we’re going to have days when we are fresh out of amazing. In fact, there are going to be days when we are fresh out of anything.
The thing is, what I think God wants us to know is — we are really always that way. We are always in desperate need for Him. Always. We just don’t typically recognize it until we’ve hit rock bottom.
During that conversation with my girl I was sharing some of the ways I continue to struggle with sin and how I totally understand Paul’s words in Romans 7:18, “For I know nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh …”
If it’s good, it’s Jesus. Period. I love Ronnie Freeman’s song, “The Only Thing.” The chorus is just pure truth for me, “The only thing that’s good in me is Jesus. The only thing that’s good in me is Jesus. I’ve lived long enough to know no matter what this life may show, the only thing that’s good in me is Jesus.”
I shared the second part of John 16:33. Where Jesus tells us it’s going to be hard but assures us He has already overcome it all on our behalf. But when we’re in the middle of the struggle, when the heartache is overwhelming, when the circumstances are bleak, and we feel lonely and afraid, it’s the first part of that verse we need, “I have said these things to you that in me you may have peace.”
He gives us peace. Not the world’s peace, which is simply absence of conflict (and y’all, I’d be lying if I didn’t admit sometimes with a teenager I’d truly be satisfied with that, just a day of no conflict!), Jesus offers us something more, something greater, something real that can carry us through the hardest days this life will bring, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. “ (John 14:27)
Paul elaborates on that peace, “And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:7)
When life is hard, we lean into Him, into the peace He gives. It’s a peace we can’t understand, but it guards and protects us. So, maybe you’re exhausted and frustrated and ready to give up. Maybe you can’t go another step, have another argument. Maybe your situation is harder than you ever dreamed.
I get it. Really. But here’s the thing: we don’t have to do it! We can be empty and desperate, and that’s where He meets us. We can be like the prodigal coming home with nothing but pig slop on our sandals, and our Father runs to meet us right there. In the mess, in the desperation, in the hard. He’s there — offering us peace.
