Hard Times

I don't know about you, but I have never felt quite so uncertain as I have these past few weeks. It's been difficult enough to be socially distanced and more or less isolated from one another, but the news across the country has turned so dark and heavy lately. People are angry, people are hurting. It may be because I'm a new mom, exhausted and out of touch, but I do believe we are living through some hard times.

They are not the first hard times and they won't be the last. They are uncertain, but we are not the first to encounter uncertainty. Never before have I been so aware of my position, caught in a literal battle between good and evil every single day. As long as we walk this earth we are in a war zone, and that seems to have become unavoidably evident of late.

I have needed to pray more than ever to maintain my sanity and the verse that keeps coming to mind (one of them) is James 1:19, "Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry" (NLT).

I've tried to be a little quieter. I've needed to be. I cannot lean on my own understanding and I can't really comprehend all that has happened, all that is happening. This pandemic has medical professionals predicting, testing, and working as quickly as possible to try to get a handle on this debilitating virus. As a small business owner, I have experienced a minute fraction of the hit the economy has taken as other businesses have suffered much more severe losses.  The challenges and injustices of daily life for many of my neighbors who don't look exactly like me leave me feeling heartbroken. I feel like all I can do is listen.


The second thing that has helped me, is focusing on pursuing gratitude. Max Lucado states in his book You'll Get Through This: Hope and Help for Turbulent Times:

Pursue gratitude. The grateful heart is like a magnet, sweeping over the day, collecting reasons for gratitude. Thank you, God. Your lungs inhale and exhale 11,000 liters of air every day. Thank you, God. For the jam on the toast and the milk on the cereal and the blanket that calms us and the joke that softens us and the warm sun that reminds us of God’s love. Gratitude leaves us looking at God and away from dread. It does to anxiety what morning sun does to valley mist: it burns it up. Thank you, God.

I am focusing all my energy these next few days, weeks, months seeking out reasons to be grateful. At the end of a truly awful day, my favorite Hallmark Channel mystery was playing. We've done a bit of gardening this Summer and have enjoyed checking for new blooms every morning, like little reminders from God that good things are still to come. Tonight as I'm trying desperately to block out the cries of a baby who does not want to be sleep trained, my husband sips hot cocoa and allows me to edit this post aloud.

I want to train my eyes and brain to pick up on every little reason to be grateful. I want to turn my eyes from dread and I want to burn up all the anxiety and unhappiness that this season and future seasons may hold. This life was never promised to be easy or fair, but it's also not the end. I refuse to be dragged down by the evil that seems so loud, but instead I am committed to actively seeking out the good that quietly remains. Like Mr. Rogers, I will look for the helpers. I will pray for the hurting. I will continue to listen, and act when appropriate.

I hope you will be encouraged and take heart. These may be hard times, but hang in there. It will all be okay.



Best,
Emily