"This too shall pass".....but.....

"This too shall pass".... but .....

        "I just need to make it through Monday, then hopefully like will slow down and I can just focus on getting ready for Thanksgiving."  I found myself saying something like this to a friend at church a few weeks ago.  But Monday came and went, and a new set of responsibilities came in the following days.  I found myself frustrated and feeling overwhelmed by all I needed to do. I realized that with my current mindset of "wait till the next big thing is over", Thanksgiving would come and go, and I would miss the enjoyment of the Thanksgiving season while I waited for life to slow down. 

        There is a lot of truth to that old saying, "This too shall pass".  Whatever hard thing I am facing in life is not likely to last forever.  But if I live by that motto, the days will quickly pass by as I wait for the next hard or challenging thing to be over.  If I keep telling myself that I can relax a little or find contentment after this next thing, it will never happen.  Because once this commitment at church ends, there will be an event at school that needs my attention.  And after the baby finally sleeps through the night, she will need to be potty trained.  And once this child learns to do his chores cheerfully, he will need to learn to speak Kindly to his siblings.  Once I get done making food for this next big event, there will be a holiday dinner to prepare. And I will find myself frustrated, overwhelmed, and discontent, because every time that one hard thing does pass, there will be another challenge before me. 

       During the hard times, it's easy to tell myself that I will be ok once this challenge has passed.  What God has been showing me is that I can be ok while I'm in the middle of a challenging situation. I can experience His joy and peace even when life is hard, and I'm feeling pressured by all I need to do. Instead of telling myself that "This too shall pass" and then I can go on with life and be ok again, I believe God wants me to look to Him and let Him fill me with His joy and strength for the hard days, and for the easier ones. 

        I know that the hardships I have faced come nowhere near the ones that Paul faced, but I have been so challenged lately by his perspective on difficulties. In 2 Corinthians 1:8-10 he writes, "We do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia.  For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.... on Him we have set our hope."  That is what I want to learn in the hard times - to rely on God and not on myself.