Life. Sometimes the reality of life really stinks. Sometimes it’s very unfair and unbearable. Or so it seems. Lately I’ve realized that somethings in life really stink. Abandonment from comforts, family, friends, and relationships we all love dearly. Seeing people hurt really stinks. Circumstances stinks. Judgement stinks. All these things are so hard. Deep down in your soul hard and the reality is that that is life. God never promised us an easy life. He never said we wouldn’t suffer or face trails. He actually said the opposite.
“Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”
-Romans 5:3-5
Going through hard things is so good. It prepares us for what the Lord has in store for us. Bigger and better things. It may seem like everything is crumbling around you, but if you just keep trucking, there is a light at the end of that long tunnel and it’s the Lord waiting for us. We can’t allow circumstances define us. We have to trust in God’s plans and and that will sustain us. We can be upset and a very and hurt, but we have to give it all away and have faith that it’s for a bigger plan.
I realized this today thanks to my dearest teammate, Dasia. She brought our team and I down under a little old bridge where there were watermelons waiting for us. We were a bit confused at first, but it really touched me. She told us to write down anything that has/ does make us angry, hurt, or upset. As we were doing this some of our friends, Henry and Michael, came to join us. Henry and Michael are also homeless so we encouraged them to do this with us. After writing all of our jumbled thought down, we picked up our watermelons and smashed them over all of those things that have hurt or upset.
The point was to crush these things so they can’t crush us. These negative things can’t take hold on our life if we don’t let them.
This helped me let go of things I didn’t even know I was dealing with and allowed me to seek joy and laughter from the freedom of hurt.
It’s so empowering to know that the Lord sustains us. These difficult things will never define who we are in Christ. It’s was incredible for me to do this and let go of anything that I’m going through, but to also see these men who have every reason under the sun to be angry and upset be so joyful because there are more joyful things to look to in our lives.
Today was so simply and much needed.
