There are THOSE moments when the stuff of this life simply sucks you dry.

And you are a Christian.

There are days where the problems scream, and everything in you has to fight to remember truth.

There are days the battle seems great and the blessings feel, well, small.

Real small.

And stress, and worry, and fear, whip like a wildfire at our very souls.

Peace that we hoped would flow like a river seems as dry as a desert.

Our human hearts get tired, bone-tired, and we long for, we are desperate for, the day when the pain we feel and see and hear….the pain of those we love, the pain that feels as if it is strapped against our chests and feels as if it could take our very breath

would
just
END.

I thought back to all of this as I was trying to encourage one of my kids who is down about the state of our country and the state of a family member. And honestly, I’m fighting being down about those things too.

The display of evil all around us is so very discouraging. I’m still sick over the Olympics.

But we all know this is a broken world.

Oh
So
Broken

Our hearts long for Heaven, but we live in the broken “not yet”.

But what do we do in this “not yet”?

How do we find strength to keep going, to get out of bed, to keep smiling and serving and hoping in this “not yet”?

And, how on earth, do others see Jesus in us in these kind of stinking, hard days?

And I’m not only talking about people we go to church with, and those we love… but how do those other people, the ones who mock Christianity and call wrong things right —how do THEY see Jesus in us …and how do we keep caring for THEIR souls?

How do we love the unlovely when we would really rather (if we are honest) box them in the nose?

A Sunday-only religion is useless for dog-days like these.

A five-minute, quick glance at a devotional won’t carry you through these, real-life, trying moments.

No, these are the times to immerse yourself in the Living Word and truly pray without ceasing.

These are days to button up your armor, to get up even earlier and pour over the Word, to turn off the news, and turn on the praise music.

These are the days to stash your Bible in your purse to have it handy, or pull it up on your phone throughout the day, to take every thought captive and compare it to truth from God’s Word.

These are the days to be honest with a few praying friends who will remind you of truth. Over and over.

And these are the days to really pray earnestly and honestly. These are the moments to tell God how you are feeling and listen for the Holy Spirit to guide you and give you the strength to walk in truth over what you see or feel.

This is the time to lay our fears before our Father. These are the moments to actually pray for our enemies and find freedom from anger and bitterness.

But none of this is a one time thing. This is a life-long thing. And why I’m sharing this updated post I wrote several years ago, again today.

For as long as we are on this side of Heaven, we will face hard days.

We will struggle, and feel down, even though we are Christians.

But BECAUSE we are Christians, we don’t have to be defeated by the pain and the evil around us!

Yes, we may see it, we may be sad and angry about it, we may feel it all around us…but when we run to the Source of our strength, again and again, light breaks through the darkness…our spirits are lifted, and sometimes, even our enemies will see Jesus in us.

Because we are Christians, He is indeed in us. His light shines through us and His Kingdom is still powerfully advancing.

And because of this, we can find truth and hope even in the hard days. ❤️Because our Father has made us more than conquerors…

hope

holdon

Hehasus

Kimjaggers.com