It’s 80 degree weather and the air conditioner just stopped working. All the window screens were previously installed one size too small, so we can’t even open the windows or bugs will come through the gaps. There’s mold in the shower. There may or may not be ants threatening to invade.
Expense after expense, grocery shopping to plan, meals to make, dishes to do, things to fix, doctors appointments, cleaning, exercising, the list never ends. Oh, and praying … there’s that too.
Funny, isn’t it, that more often than not, the one thing that could keep us sane in the race to keep up, ends up being the last thing on the list? Remembering to stop running long enough to take a deep breath of the air Jesus invites us to breathe is somehow so hard to do. But if we do, we can hear Him whisper in the unfamiliar stillness:
“In the world you will have trouble, but take courage,
I have conquered the world” (Jn. 16:33).
Take courage. Really what He is saying here is:
“Trust me. Have faith that I love you, even when you’re sweaty from no AC, the laundry pile is becoming a mountain, the balance in your bank account is only shrinking, and you just can’t bring yourself to do anything more. It’s ok; it will all be ok; you’re ok.”
At least that’s what I hear Him saying, as I sit here typing, sticking to my chair, waiting for that blessed cold air to start circulating again in the (hopefully) near future. I also hear my father’s voice in my head, with one of his favorite pieces of advice, “This, too, shall pass.”
Whether you relate with these types of “first-world problems” or your suffering is deeper, the message Jesus brings is the same for all of us. We are each supposed to trust, to have faith, and to take courage in the knowledge that He loves us and that He has already conquered whatever we are facing. Even though we may have to fight still a little longer, the war has been won by our Savior and King. And this knowledge, if claimed and clung to, brings a peace that consoles, even in the midst of the battle.
I am a firm believer that there is always a silver lining to everything, and this week, I resolve to not let life beat that positive attitude out of me. One of my good friends recently reminded me that we have to look for the Lord in everything, and ask ourselves, “Today, where did I see God? Where did I meet Him today?”
During these next several days, join me in actively looking for the Lord, even in all the mundaneness of daily life, and may He give us the grace to never stop seeking the blessings He is always giving us.
Thanks getting to sad about the little things in Gods eyes ,over whelmed by back and should pain the crusifiction in small order but it wears you down to deal with lifting my new grad daughter should I continue to ask for healing ,not my will .God bless .