I love
Winston Churchill’s sentiment:
“If you’re going through hell, keep
going.”
Life is
tough. Sooner or later, we’ll experience a trying situation which feels like
hell. It isn’t actual hell, thank God. Nevertheless, the power of that
notorious situation/trauma makes us feel tortured with pain, despair and
hopeless evidence. Eating disorders, addictions, compulsions, loss and grief
are just a few examples of things which can feel like hell, if, after all,
torture is the calling card.
It’s painful
and almost impossible to see future, life, possibility or God. We can, instead,
much more easily see ourselves as failures, weak, forgotten and ruined. It’s,
therefore, inevitable that we come to a screeching halt; we stop in the mire
and can only feel ourselves sinking…down to where? Greater depths of hell and
torture?
But that’s
not God’s truth about us. Even in the middle of hopelessness, God is
there…living…loving…working…
“And we know that all things work together
for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his
purpose.”
Romans 8:28
“Behold, I am the Lord,
the God of all flesh. Is there anything too hard for Me?”
Jeremiah 32:27
It can be
tempting to believe that in our self-defined hells, we’re going it alone. But
we’re not. Psalm 23 reassures us…
“Yea, though I walk through the valley of
the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me…”
Psalm 23:4
And as we
‘keep going,” transformation, bit by bit, occurs…
“But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as
in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image
from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.”
2 Corinthians 3:18
And “keep
going” doesn’t necessarily mean a dramatic, larger than life display. It can be
the tiniest effort, decision or prayer. It just needs to exist. God requires
only a mustard seed of faith, not a mountain. Thank God for that!
And I
believe we underestimate both God and ourselves about the power of our
thoughts, words and actions. We can be one thought, word or deed away from
breakthrough; we never know. But God does. And even when we fall short, God has
decided and created the contingency plan for us. Jesus.
“…being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a
good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.”
Philippians 1:6
Are we
confident in that Truth? Are we confident in God’s involvement as we go through
our different kinds of hell? Do we “keep going,” armed with trust in God,
leading, guiding, helping and transforming our lives, even in the appearance of
wreckage? We all need help in this area of the faith department.
We’re all in
process. That applies even to the process of “going through hell.”
Are you going
through hell right now? Are you stopping in it or moving through it? Regardless,
God is too good of a God to leave you in the spot of despair forever; you WILL
get through this, whatever “this” may be. Trust God; trust Him.
“Trust in the Lord
with all your heart; and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways
acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.”
Proverbs 3:5-6
God has much
more for you!
“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the
Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.”
Jeremiah 29:11
Keep going!
Copyright © 2020 by Sheryle Cruse
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