Sunday Morning (Finding Encouragement During Hard Times)

There’s a lot going on right now. There’s no sugarcoating it, the world is—well, kind of depressing at the moment. It’s discouraging seeing every thing shut down, seeing people locked up in their homes. Watching the schools being shut down; couples being forced to reschedule their wedding. It really makes you think—makes you feel. Makes you feel sad, angry, confused, scared, maybe you’ve felt everything at once. Especially when the news is everywhere. You go to Instagram you see news; you go to YouTube you see news, go to Facebook and you see people posting anything related to the virus. It’s really easy to get caught up in the sadness of the world.
But don’t. Don’t get caught up in the sadness; I know it’s easier said than done. The truth is, sad stuff happens in the world every day, we just don’t notice it as much, until it hits close to home. The world is hard; life is tough. But if you’re reading this then you woke up in the morning, alive and breathing. You’re living through life, one day at a time.

My husband and I were driving home from my in-law’s house a few weeks ago; it was dark and the fog wouldn’t let us see more than twenty feet in front of us. At times we could see further, at times we couldn’t even see twenty feet ahead. But we kept driving at a regular speed. Fully believing that we would make it home. We couldn’t see ahead, but we knew we would make it through the fog. That’s life. Sometimes it’s foggy, sometimes it’s not. Right now, it’s foggy, but we keep driving, knowing we’ll find our way and make it through.
Because life goes on. Until you die, you live. Live everyday with hope and joy, because we, as followers of Jesus, know that we will make it through and we will reach home. No matter how foggy life gets, but we are strong, because of Jesus. Sad things happen every day. Sometimes it feels like it’s the worst thing yet, but the current problem ends, and then months or years later another problem begins. It might sound harsh or depressing, but it’s true. That’s how life works. So how do we manage to smile and laugh when it feels like life constantly hands us problems and sad times? We remember the good times.
Life might be hard, but it’s also a joy. It’s easy to get caught up in the sadness and stay that way. But find the joy. True happiness never leaves you. It doesn’t matter how hard life gets, but happiness from Jesus never dies. That’s how we can live day to day, smiling. Because we have Jesus. Remember the story about two men: one built his house on a rock, the other built his house on sand. One man built his faith and happiness around Jesus. The other built his happiness around material things and laid his faith on earthly goods. When the storm came, the house on the rock stood and the one on the sand washed away. Happiness and faith built on Jesus (the rock) will withstand any storm, it doesn’t matter how big or how small. Or how often the storms come, it stands strong and never stumbles.
If our house is built on a rock then life’s current events will never break us. We will stand strong, rising through it all. And we will stand when the sun shines again. We will live our lives full of hope and joy, laughing, smiling through it all. Our joy is underneath our skin, it isn’t painted on. It can’t be washed off by the storm, because it is within us. Happiness that comes when everything is right, happiness that comes from getting a new house, happiness that comes from having a perfectly furnished and cozy home will disappear the minute hard times come. But happiness that comes from God will stay through it all.
Go outside and play with your kids, work on your yard, smile to your neighbor, talk to him. Finish your projects, start new ones, eat with your family, play games, read the Bible, pray—live your life. If you can’t do what you usually do because of COVID-19, then try something new. But don’t lounge around all day, reading news articles. Don’t stop living because life got harder than it was a month ago. Work, play, rejoice—live. Everyday, until you die. Because we will stand through the storms and we will stand when the sun shines again.
So, don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.
Matthew 6:34 NLT