We all have times in our lives that we go through something that is stressful, hurtful, scary, etc. I was sharing with a friend the other day some of the events of our year and as I spoke about them, I suddenly realized how time after time, even tho I was recounting events that were extremely stressful at the time, I was also recounting time after time of God's faithfulness and Him bringing us through them.
One specific time stood out to me, as unusual as it may seem. My son broke his leg earlier this year by "supermanning" himself off the stop of our couch and landing with a thud on his femur, snapping it into two. Of course, we spent some time at the hospital and that night, instead of sending us home, they decided to keep him overnight for observation and to teach us how to take care of his cast. My husband decided to stay there with him and let me go home with our daughter. As I was driving home, my old van started to overheat. The needle kept inching its way up until it was a hairline away from the bright red mark. I was in a very bad area of town, at 2 am with my little baby daughter in the backseat.
I began to pray as I saw the needle inching its way up, but once it reached that red mark, I said, "God, I need You to send an Angel here, now, to blow on this engine, because I'm not stopping here. You know how dangerous it is here and if I stop, we'll be in great danger. I'm believing in You and I know You want me to make it home safe."
Sure enough, as I prayed, the needle started going down and I was able to make it home safely. Each time the needle went up, I would pray and it would go back down, immediately.
As I shared this story with my friend, she commented, "I really like how you just told God what you needed and knew He would take care of you."
It dawned on me that I really did believe He would help me and I didn't doubt His goodness in the middle of the struggle. I never realized that at the time. And since then, I have gone through several other times where the stress has become overwhelming and when I'd pray, peace would overcome me. As I look back and see times that the peace didn't overcome me, I realize that I didn't believe in Him. I didn't trust Him to carry me fully through that situation.
Sometimes life doesn't go as planned, and when we're in the middle of the struggle, it's good to remind ourselves of the times we know God carried us through. It'll remind us that whatever we're going through right now is also known by God and He will take care of us. And if you go through times when you're so stressed you find yourself questioning God and His faithfulness, sit down and close your eyes. Think back to the times you know He was faithful. Write them down. Recount them to a friend.
Something I am going to do, and suggest to you too, is to have a "Remember His Faithfulness" jar. Write down on small pieces of paper things God has done for you. Then fold them up nicely, drop them in the jar and when you feel down, discouraged and defeated, pull out a piece of paper and read it. It'll encourage you. It'll remind you that He never, ever, ever fails!
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