Life is hard. I’m not telling you anything you don’t already know. Every single one of us has experienced hard. Your hard may have lasted weeks, months, years or decades … it could still be in full swing right now. I know … I’ve been there too. The hard where you don’t know how you will make it through until the end of your days. But I have to tell you … a time to laugh and a time to dance and a time for happiness will come again. I didn’t believe it either, but now I’ve lived it.
Hard for me has come through so many avenues. Physical pain, devastating illnesses and death of family and close friends, relationship pain with my spouse and children, betrayal from friends, financial adversity, business disappointments … I could go on. But there is nothing unique about my list compared to yours. We all have our own version of hard.
Several years ago, after fighting against the hard for so long, I finally came to a place of surrender. Surrender to the hard that is life and committed to living a joy-filled, thankful, grateful life, even when the happiness was overshadowed by the pain. I have referred before to my mantra of “No Expectations … Only Gratitude.” However, even in that surrender, I still found myself feeling resigned to life on earth and believing only true happiness would come when I find myself in heaven one day.
While that is certainly true … nothing will even come close to comparing with the joy and happiness here on earth as to what we will experience in eternity, but that does not mean we will not encounter seasons of blessings during our time here.
Life on earth is like … well, like life! Instead of it being on an upward trajectory from Point A to Point B, it looks more like the printout from your EKG. High peaks and low valleys that rise and fall in a matter of seconds.
So I know you can relate to the hard. But I pray for you that you will also look forward to seasons of God’s blessings and favor here on earth as well. I did not believe it could happen for me, but I’m currently living it. And I believe with all my heart, you will have a beautiful season of grace and favor too.
In Ecclesiastes 3:4, God’s Word says there is “A time to cry and a time to laugh. A time to grieve and a time to dance.”
If you are in a time of weeping, grieving and mourning today, I want to encourage you that laughter and dancing will come too.
We all are familiar with Jeremiah 29:11 and the hope from that verse. When you keep reading, in verse 14, Jeremiah states that the Lord will end our captivity and restore our fortunes. Now I am definitely not citing this as a claim for prosperity. I believe the captivity can represent so many areas of the hard in our lives—the pain that brings tears and grief. And the fortunes are only those found in Him which bring us to a place of celebration and laughter!
As it says in Isaiah 61:3-4, “He has sent me to tell those who mourn that the time of the Lord’s favor has come … He will give a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning, festive praise instead of despair.”
Over and over again in Scripture, we are reminded that there is coming a day of beauty, blessing, and praise. Yes, ultimately the best will be in heaven. But the context of many of these verses is describing our lives here on earth.
I know one or many more down spikes are ahead, and I have to be so intentional to not let my mind travel the path of all the future hard. In fact, I cannot do it on my own. Regularly, when I’m praising and thanking God for my current blessings or even just going about my day, I will suddenly experience a wave of fear as I know hard will visit me again. And it would be so easy to give in to that and spiral downward in a matter of minutes (confession—sometimes I do!) Instead, I have to set my mind on Christ’s words and continue to remind myself to stay in the day as He says in Matthew 6:34. He is my "Ebenezer"and has proven He was with me before and He will always be with me.
So when your “Life EKG” is in the downward spike, look forward to the upcoming spike as well. I was afraid to believe it for so many years … I just thought it wasn’t my lot in life. But now I have experienced it, am currently experiencing it, and am just ever-so-grateful for the gift of each and every day…whether it lasts a moment, a day, or for years. I’m asking you to believe it too.
