Are you tired? Do you feel worn out? Do you feel like nothing you do ever seems to work out the way you planned? Do you feel like just throwing up your hands and giving up?
Me, too. I look around me and it seems like things are getting progressively worse, and I'm confused and worn out. I just don't know what to do anymore. It would be so much easier to just give up.
I feel surrounded, trapped, overwhelmed. I feel powerless against the forces that I face. No matter what I do, things stay the same. I feel as though there is nothing that I can do that will make any tangible difference.
In this moment, I am tempted to throw up my hands, to lie down in defeat, to give up. But then I hear the words of Jehoshaphat, king of Israel, "We are powerless against this great horde that is coming against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.” (2 Chronicles 20:12) Jehoshaphat was surrounded by a multitude of enemy soldiers from several nations. He knew that his army was no match for such a large force. But instead of giving up, he looked up. In this crucial moment, he chooses to lift his eyes up to the Lord.
I lift up my eyes to the hills.
Where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.
-Psalm 121:1-2
The fact of the matter is that this life is filled with challenges. Life is not a single mountain, its an endless mountain range of highs and lows. But, in the midst of this, we have a reassurance. "Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)
So, when the bills keep piling up, when the kid just won't stop screaming, when everything you're looking forward to gets cancelled, when you see yet another political ad, when there just aren’t enough hours in the day, when all you see in the mirror is extra pounds and dark circles, when you feel like giving up; look up.
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