Blessed In the Stress

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance…Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial…”

James 1:2,12

 

What else are Sundays for?

It has been a beautiful autumn so far and I’ve been loving the fall colors. It’s my favorite season, due to the seasonal Starbucks drinks, layered fashion, perfectly balanced weather, pumpkin everything, and one of the best holidays: Halloween. (Do I sound like a typical white girl or what?) Jason began his job training this past week in Denver. It’s been a little crazy with driving and packing, but otherwise it has been peaceful knowing that we are beginning a more steady routine shortly. The best strategy that I’ve found so far for juggling all my responsibilities as a wife, a caregiver, my husband’s admin, a student, and a doggy mom, has been to just take everything one day at a time. The minute you think about everything you need to accomplish in the next week, month, year, etc., you will most likely find yourself as overwhelmed as I found myself a number of nights ago…

            It had been a crazy day. I don’t even remember the details of what was going on that day now, but I know I had been driving a bunch, cooking, helping Jason, and stressing about meeting school deadlines. I was tossing and turning in bed, as Jason was fast asleep. I worried about how I would possibly be able to do everything I am needing to in the next few months. Things have already been so busy and our schedule is crazy, but now that Jason has begun his job, I will have to also fit in driving him back and forth as well as to meetings. I am also his administrative assistant, so I will need to figure out a way to work at this second job part time. I allowed myself to get so worked up that I started putting the blame on God. How could You let one person be responsible for all this stuff? Why can’t You help Jason walk every day like so many other amputees? Why won’t You let us have babies naturally? Why can’t You just give us a break?

            Suddenly, my complaining came to a halt as I heard Him interrupt, “Be thankful that you are in a situation that gives you no choice but to be aware of your need for Me.” Those words were a revelation to me. All my life, I have come to God with desperation and need in a negative way, as if it is a problem. I have never looked at hard times as a blessing. He directed my thoughts to consider how I would most likely be missing out on the deep relationship I would have with Him if I were living a comfortable life. There are so many aspects of my life that leave me with no choice but to call on Jesus for assistance. It’s easy to forget how far I have come and how many mountains He has helped me over. However, if I take time to look back, there are countless situations that I know I could not have overcome if it weren’t for the direction of the Lord. My times of desperation have been some of my strongest points of commitment to God. When I think about it, His message about being thankful for the hard situations makes sense.  I’m sure you will find that it applies to your life as well.

            I hope this post finds you well, and if not, I hope you can join me in finding a grateful heart for even the hardest times. Your life will always feel like what you think of it as, so do you think of it as: a blessing or a curse?

With Grace,

Rachel

Cash, one of our two sweet fur babies