My husband tested positive for COVID last week. In a year that’s been filled with questions and uncertainties, now there’s even more:
“Where did he get COVID?”
“Has he unknowingly spread it to anyone else?”
“How can he self-quarantine in our house when we don’t have any extra rooms that aren’t being used and when our-three-year-old stills sleeps in the bed with us?”
“What are we going to do in the house for sooo many more days?”
“Will his symptoms get worse?”
When life brings all the questions and no answers, it’s important to think about what is true. What is solid that you can stand on when all you feel is the shifting sands of trying to ace a multiple choice test in a class you never attended. Here is what you can count on to be true.
You are still alive.
While you are alive, you still have opportunities to let your sparkle out.* Even though I am tired, I can serve God and my family right here today while we’re all inside together. This situation is not ideal, but I have another day to love my spouse and my children. How am I going to do that today?
This morning I prayed before I rolled out of bed, “Lord, help me be a good mom today.” Here’s what I can do today: take a shower, put on clothes that are not pajamas, get out the paints and the play dough for the three-year-old, play a game with the older kids, make sure there’s breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and above all else give hugs.
Even when you feel broken down and tired, you still have opportunities to serve God. There are simple things you can do that show love to those around you.
God is here.
God is here and He is still in control. We can’t let our circumstances change what we believe about God. If we believe that God is good while our lives are good, then we must believe He’s good even when life feels not so good. If He’s ever-present on our best days, then He’s ever-present on our worst days. What do we know about God? We know that God is love (#). In I Corinthians 13, we read this about love:
Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never fails. verses 4-8
God is patient and kind, bearing and enduring with you on your worst days. His truth will not fail you.
God is near.
In Mark, we read about a time when the disciples of Jesus thought he was very far away, as if he didn’t care. But he was near to them, on the same boat actually. When a storm came, the nearness of Jesus did not stop his disciples from being fearful. Jesus was asleep, and he didn’t wake up right away to fix their problem—he waited until they asked. Jesus waited for his friends to come to him with their concerns, then he brought peace (#).
God wants you to draw near to Him, so that He can draw near to you (#). God is always waiting on you to come to Him. An invitation, a prayer, telling God that you need Him is all that’s required.
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:6-7
God wants your prayers
Prayer is a lifeline we can reach for when the storms are threatening to overwhelm us. Paul tells us in the verses above from Philippians not to be anxious, but to pray in every situation, asking God for what we need, while also giving him thanks for what He has already given us. Giving God the praise, acknowledging His power, and surrendering your heart brings more peace than trying to fix it all yourself.
Prayer is also an opportunity to lament. Lament isn’t complaining to someone who has no control over what you’re going through, it’s asking God to intervene because you know He is powerful enough to do so.
Even when you don’t feel like you have a right to lament, God wants to know your sadness. When you feel weary, you can’t compare your pain to someone else’s. It is not beneficial to compare our best days to anyone else’s best days and we shouldn’t burden ourselves with comparing our worst days either. We only hurt ourselves when we look to how others grieve or even how much worse their circumstances are. It is possible that even in our lament, God wants us looking to Him only and not worrying about what anyone else thinks or says or does.
When I first started writing this on Friday morning, my mind was like mush from all the anxious thoughts I’d been dwelling on. But by Friday afternoon, I can say that by focusing my mind on other things, I didn’t feel so helpless—I painted fingernails, showered, got dressed, helped a three-year-old with watercolors, made quesadillas for lunch, took the four of us to get COVID tested, comforted a child going through the same emotions I’m going through. And I also played worship music, prayed, read life-giving words, and wrote some words of my own. Releasing the anxiety from my mind by doing things with my body was the best medicine.
When your mind is caught in a storm, in the tossing waves of unknowns, settle your mind on something you do know. Fix your mind on Christ, so that you will not grow weary.
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
Hebrews 12:1-3
If this post encouraged you, sign up to join my email friends so that you’ll never miss a new post or freebie. You’ll also have access to my library of free goodies (phone wallpapers, downloadable workbooks, printables, and music playlists)!
*This phrase about letting your sparkle out is from the picture book The Very Fairy Princess by Julie Andrews and her daughter, Emma Hamilton #.
Good article! So glad that seeing your story through God’s eyes helped ease your anxiety.
Thank you!
I think we will always have more questions than answers on this side of heaven! Thanks for such a well written, thought-provoking post.
You are right about that! So much we don’t understand here.
beautiful post and I love this definition for Lament: “Lament isn’t complaining to someone who has no control over what you’re going through, it’s asking God to intervene because you know He is powerful enough to do so.”
Thank you! I’ve had to learn to make that distinction!