When You Aren’t Sure How You’ll Get Through This
How can you hope to get through when it feels so heavy?
“And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.”
~ Galatians 6:9 (ESV)
What has you feeling overwhelmed and weary today? It’s a temptation we all feel at different times in our lives. As a young mom, I had many of those moments. Sometimes it was staring a mountain of laundry in the face after a sleepless night of breathing treatments with my asthmatic child. An empty pantry and four hungry bellies! Another heartbreaking miscarriage. But nothing could have prepared me for the weary and helpless feelings I would face a few years ago when my husband was diagnosed with cancer.
It’s true that hearing the “C” word is like being punched in the stomach. I wanted to throw up. The first place I headed was my bedroom to be alone. I was in complete disbelief. I googled blood cancer and collapsed to the floor as I read the word “incurable.” It was at that moment that I felt like giving up. How could I do this? It felt impossible. There was no going around this – only through it. I was going to have to learn to persevere. To endure. To not give up.
I don’t know what your storm is right now. Maybe it’s a wayward child. Financial insecurity. An unfaithful spouse. Sickness. Or a miscarriage. But whatever it is, I am guessing, you too have felt weary and wondered how you will get through what feels impossible.
God promises to bring fruit out of our faithfulness
I love what the Apostle Paul writes to the church of Galatia when he says, “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” (Galatians 6:9) Paul reminds the people of the church to not “grow weary.” Why? Because obedience to Jesus, continuing to do good, and staying faithful even in the trials of life, can be hard and exhausting. But do you see the promise in not giving up? Did you catch the fruit of faithfulness? He writes, “for at the proper time we will reap.” In other words, there is a harvest in the hard stuff, but only if we don’t give up!
Now, here is where things get tricky. Our natural tendency is to focus on the ending. But as hard as this is, our goal isn’t to focus on the outcomes, it is to focus on our offering. We keep loving. Keep trusting. Keep saying “yes,” to Jesus. In the middle of the overwhelm we continue to offer our lives wholly to Christ – trusting Him with the end of the story. We stay close to Him. Abide in Him. And remember that He too did not give up on us.
Friend, we need to be careful of missing a future harvest because we are unwilling to endure a current hardship. There is a reward. We may not always see it. It may not always make sense. But God has promised to bring fruit out of our faithfulness. We can trust Him and with His help, we will get through this.
In His Word
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.” Hebrews 12:1(ESV)
In Your Life
- Where are you most tempted to quit and why?
- Do you tend to be more focused on outcomes or offerings?
- How can the example of Jesus motivate you to greater endurance?
We Recommend
In a Boat in the Middle of a Lake by Patrick and Ruth Schwenk is a powerful reminder that your storm doesn’t have to sink you. In this compassionate and moving book, the Schwenks weave together lessons from their own experience of multiple miscarriages — and then years later, a cancer diagnosis — with insightful Bible teaching to remind us that one of the greatest ways God transforms us is through trials.
Today — in your confusion about God’s intentions, your disappointment over lost dreams, your disillusionment about prayer — God is offering hope. Grab your copy here, today.
Let’s Connect
If you are struggling to find hope today, here are 30 Scriptures for Hope During Hard Times.
You can join Ruth and Patrick every week as they share life, theology, and everything in between on their podcast, Rootlike Faith.