Hope for Your Trials
Photo by Gian Cescon on Unsplash
Now that we’re settled in our new location, you will find me at Walmart - a lot.
It’s located conveniently around the corner and so easy to just pop over and buy a few things here and there.
We never have a huge shopping list and I feel as if I float through the aisles unhindered.
Weaving around not only other customers, but in store shoppers.
Wow wouldn’t that have been nice when my kids were small.
There are some young parents shopping, some with kids, some on their own. Always with the same look – tired and frazzled.
They, like me, didn’t think ahead to order on-line pickup. They have excuses, but me?
Their shopping carts, laden with food, toys, toiletries, etc., require significant effort to propel through the aisles, check out and out to the car.
Only to arrive home again when there are a precious few years anyone is available to help unload and put the groceries away before they are consumed in record time.
Believe it or not, it does get easier.
Not so long ago I didn’t meander so easily through the store as I now do.
When the kids were young, preparing to go grocery shopping was an event - yes, even prior to leaving the house. This included, but was not limited to, getting multiple people fed, dressed, buckled in, packing snacks, extra clothes, and diapers along with purse, coupons, and shopping list for as much as two weeks’ worth of groceries for the entire family (yes, an actual paper list : )).
Then there was the actual shopping with anywhere from one to three kids in tow. This not only required financial finesse, but the psychological tactics required for Mission Impossible.
What if Johnny has a meltdown, Susie needs to be fed or changed during check out (yes, that really happened)? And oh, make sure Tommy doesn't wander off in his own little world.
It felt like those days would never end. Trying to make the budget stretch month after month to feed our growing family.
Not to mention pay tithe, bills, buy clothes, shoes, uniforms, school/sports fees, etc. all while attempting to manage my husband’s CPTSD (which we didn’t even know was a thing at the time).
Judiciously doling out our precious little funds to make everyone feel loved and cared for and avoid the “he got more than me” tantrum.
But the Lord always provided.
These days I find myself alone at the store mentally scratching my head in disbelief at the sight of my see through cart.
Hope
The difficult times in life can feel like they will never go away.
Photo by Sage Friedman on Unsplash
We ask, “Why God why, when God when”, to quote Joyce Meyer (see her book Why, God, Why?).
We may think God has given up on us. His seeming silence may cause us to believe He doesn’t hear or care and may tempt us to give up and quit praying all together thinking why bother, He’s not listening anyway…?
But He does hear and He does care.
Many times in the Psalms David cried out to God to hear his pleas and save him from his enemies and other trials.
He honestly poured out his heart to God, and then always ended claiming the truth of God’s love, provision, and help (See Psalm 40, 42, 46, 51, 54, 55, etc.).
While I certainly don’t have all the answers, I do know most trials are an opportunity to learn a lesson or two (although some things may never be revealed).
I was being refined and being made more like Jesus and boy did I need it! As 2 Corinthians 3:18 says I was being transformed more to His likeness, from glory to glory.
While I felt the trial was from without – my circumstances – it’s purpose really was changing me from within.
Each phase of life presents different trials and challenges. Now as I look back, I find myself in awe again of God’s grace and mercy in my life – and know He will continue to provide for challenges still ahead.
He has to. He knows I can’t possibly do it without Him.
And God is still God and worthy of our praise and adoration no matter what we are going through.
Have you ever been through a trial yet insisted on praising God through it? What was the result? Please share in the comments and let’s encourage one another.
For more encouragement and inspiration check out these other posts:
