When Life is Hard
Note that I did not say “if” life is hard. If it’s not now, sooner or later, it will be.
Life will also be busy, and that may be part of the “hard” part. Case in point: I haven’t blogged since school started.
I don’t know where you are in your walk with Christ, how your family is, where your personal relationships are going, or what your job situation (or lack thereof) is like, but I do know that God knows, and I know He cares.
He understands everything you feel, he knows your hurt, he understands your weariness. How? He’s felt overworked, burdened, stretched-to-the-limit, and betrayal. He doesn’t just get “it”, he gets you. And he loves you. That’s why he worked so tirelessly, bore the burdens, went beyond his limits, and endured the ultimate betrayal.
But he was God’s son! That’s how he was able to do it all, right? Yes, but he was also fully human, and in his humanity, he had to endure everything. His feet had to hurt after a long day, and he didn’t have Sketcher Shape-Ups or Dr. Scholl’s inserts.
He was bone-weary after putting in a full day’s work – and then some – and knows what it means to crave sleep. He grew frustrated when his disciples missed the point. His patience wore thin when the religious leaders’ personal agendas and traditions kept them doing more harm than good for the people they were supposed to serve.
Jesus knows who you are, and he knows where you are in your spiritual, personal, and professional life. His life was hard, so he knows how to get you through yours.
Yes, our lives can be hard, but sometimes you may just need a new perspective. Example: our shower head is almost kaput. Not a huge catastrophe, but we can’t afford a new one this month, and it’s down to a miserable trickle. Inconvenient? Yes. A disaster? Hardly. I have an indoor shower with hot and cold running water, one I can use any time I feel the need. In fact, I have one of those fancy sponges and at least two different kinds of shower gel, plus plenty of shampoo and conditioner. Therefore, I already have more material blessings than 90% of the world’s population, which helps me keep a healthy perspective.
A faulty shower head is not the biggest hurdle I’m facing, but the Jesus who calmed a raging storm in an instant will carry me – and you – through the storms of life because he’s lived them.
I talked my Father in Heaven about not having time to write for my blog this morning because I felt guilty for not posting a single thing in weeks. What I felt His Spirit say is that when He lays something on my heart to say, I will have the time to write it down, so I did.
Blessings,
Joni Bain Reese
September 23, 2010
