5 Truths to Hold Onto When Life Takes You by Surprise
My tennis shoes squeaked on the gray tiles as I walked down the long hallway. A large black-and-white mural featuring the accomplishments of the hospital’s namesake decorated one wall.
It was Sunday, and the hospital corridors were nearly empty. Only two days before, I had never stepped foot through the sliding glass doors at the front of the building. But now, I could nearly walk the pathway in my sleep.
No matter how hard they try to make a hospital seem less hospital-y, they all seem the same. But as far as hospitals go, this was a good one.
This day seemed like my worst nightmare come to life. My dad, the person I love more than life itself, had emergency surgery and was looking at long weeks of recovery.
If there ever was a “valley of the shadow of death” this felt like it.
I am not a brave person. Nearly every member of my family is involved in the medical field in some way, but I can’t stand the sight of blood.
For years, I have wondered what would happen if I were ever placed in a situation that required me to be strong for someone else. To walk through a hospital or to hold a hand through pain.
I always thought I would fall apart. That I wouldn’t be able to face hard times.
No one was more surprised than I was to be there, in that hospital, doing the things people do in hospitals.
The truth is, I didn’t do it on my own. I could not do it on my own.
But God has not left me. I have felt Him beside me every step. Even in these dark days, He is leading me and working in my life.
5 Truths to Remember in Hard Times
Here are some lessons God is teaching me right now. I hope they encourage you, too.
1. God’s grace meets us where we are.
Often in life, we look at situations and think, “I could never do that.” But the truth is, with God’s grace, we can.
During my time in the hospital, I learned that God gives us grace when we come to the end of ourselves.
In that moment when our strength ends, His grace says, “I’ll carry you from here.”
And He does.
His grace holds us together when we do not have the strength to stand on our own.
2. God cares for us through people.
As women, we value our independence. We rarely ask for help.
Instead, we’d rather power through and figure it out on our own.
But part of God’s plan for us as Christians is to help one another.
Galatians 6:2 says, “Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.”
Many times, people want to be a blessing, but they don’t know how. Remember, when someone helps you during a crisis, they are serving God.
During our time at the hospital, a family friend offered to let my sister and me stay at her house. She provided us with a safe, clean place to stay only a few minutes from the hospital.
Accepting help from a near-stranger is hard for me. But as the hospital stay stretched from days to weeks, it became a huge blessing for us.
When you’re going through a hard time, open your eyes to people around you who offer to help. Don’t be afraid to accept help, or even ask for it.
3. God gives mercy one day at a time.
I will tell you honestly that there are days during this experience when I don’t think I can go on. I can’t walk down another hallway, talk to another doctor, or ask a nurse another question.
But I have found that every time I think I can’t, I can.
Lamentations 3:22-23 tells us that God’s mercy is new every morning. We can never use it up.
Today might be hard, and you need a lot of mercy. That’s okay. When you wake up tomorrow, you’ll have a fresh supply.
No matter how many times you think He couldn’t possibly have any more, He always does.
4. God’s presence is not dependent on our feelings.
Sometimes, life turns everything upside down without warning.
In those moments, it’s easy to feel that God is far away. The truth is, He is near even when we don’t feel Him.
Psalm 34:18 tells us that God is near to those who have a broken heart. In fact, all of Psalm 34 is a comforting chapter that reminds us that God hears us when we cry out to Him.
Even when your heart is too broken for words, He hears and understands.
5. God’s peace steadies us, even when we don’t understand.
Life is full of uncertainties. Having faith doesn’t mean we always get a good outcome. It doesn’t mean things will always be easy.
God never promised us that we wouldn’t have hard times. In fact, He told us that our lives here on earth will be full of tribulations.
However, He also promised that He would never leave us. Peace doesn’t mean we never get a bad diagnosis. It doesn’t mean our hearts won’t ever break.
Peace means having confidence that Jesus walks beside us, holding us up when we can’t walk on our own.
Trusting God in the Unknown
Life hurts sometimes. No matter how hard we try to protect ourselves and our families bad things happen.
In 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, Paul says, “And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.”
This verse reminds us that we are weak. But when we are, God is strong.
If we could do everything in life on our own, we would never know God’s power. Sometimes, we need to come to the end of ourselves to see how much we need Him.
One day, we will look back on these trials and see how God helped us through. The Bible tells us that God works everything out for the good of those who love God. (Romans 8:28)
It doesn’t tell us that everything will be good. But God’s ways are so much higher than our ways. We can’t understand His plans or His timing.
But we can still choose to trust His heart. Trust that His ways are good, even when we cannot yet understand them.
Faith over fear is a choice. It’s choosing to say, “I don’t know how, when, or why, but I know God is working. And I’ll trust Him.”
As you read this post today, I don’t know what hard time you might be facing. But I can say for sure that God knows.
He has not left me, nor forsaken me during these dark days. And He won’t leave you either.
