Reflection: Sometimes when life just doesn’t seem to be going the way I want it to and there are more problems than solutions, it can be hard to keep a positive mindset. People say, “It can’t get worse”, but my friend and I have long joked that life doesn’t work like that. Sometimes things continue to get worse, and you don’t get a break from the carnage. It feels like you are being bombarded from all directions.
Paul lists all the terrible thing he suffered through in his life and ministry in 2 Corinthians 11:24-27. They include being beaten, stoned, lashed, shipwrecked, being adrift at sea, going on long journeys, facing danger from rivers and people, working hard, having sleepless nights, being hungry and thirsty, shivering with cold and not being able to keep warm. This is quite the list.
Reflecting on this list recently, I considered what my list might look like if I were to write it out? By no means am I equating myself with Paul. I live in a different time and place. Although I share his humanity and struggle. My list probably would include things like having a disability, physical pain and illness, working hard, being a parent, having sleepless nights, conflict at work, judgement and mistreatment from other people, exhaustion, loss, loneliness and doubt. I wonder what you might list from your life.
If Paul was with us now, I don’t think he would be quick to dismiss our hardship. He would acknowledge it in all its forms and encourage us to keep looking to God and find hope, to allow him to renew us inwardly, day by day despite it all.
Prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, help me to not lose heart. Let me fix my eyes on what is unseen and eternal, instead of being dismayed by what is happening in my life and the world around me. Renew me day by day and give me hope. Amen.