I have a tendency to idealize moments in my past and wonder why things today don’t measure up. It’s easy to forget that before or even during every exciting moment, every dream come true, or every big adventure there was a struggle.
There have been times all along my spiritual journey when I’ve wondered if God is here. There have been days throughout even the best years of my life when I’ve felt like a failure.
The fact of the matter is, life is a struggle. Even with the peace of Christ reigning in our hearts, we will experience the tug of war that comes with having our feet on solid ground and our hearts in heaven.
If you are struggling now, don’t forget that even our best moments are found when joy pierces adversity. That God is here. And that in this world we will struggle, but we can take heart. He has overcome.
“In this world you will have troubles. But take heart, I have overcome the world.” – Jesus (John 16:33)
“I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” – Jesus (Matthew 28:20b)
Pray, Live, Create 
Just got done posting and saw this. Love it’s simplicity and how loudly it speaks to my heart right now. Love the pics along with it. Thanks Kim!!
LikeLike
Krystle, I just read your post and wow – thank you for sharing that! I am so glad, because it’s something God’s had to do a lot of work on in my life and your post was incredible. I can’t wait to read that book. Doesn’t it feel amazing when He opens our eyes and sets us free? And how He always brings us back? So good.
Thanks for your kind words, friends! The pics are stock photos, but I can’t wait to take my own. I’m learning. 😉
LikeLike
Just what I needed today. Thank you!
LikeLike
Hi Alisha, I’m so glad to hear that. Thanks for stopping by!
LikeLike
This is exactly what I needed to hear yesterday. Thanks for posting!
LikeLike
That’s so good to hear! I hope the rest of the week goes better.
LikeLike
For me, I think I actually struggle more to remember the joy, the breaks in the clouds, the small (and sometimes great) victories I’ve seen throughout all the hard days. And perhaps that’s why the gratitude journal has been such a life-changing thing for me, so important for re-learning to see the hard days of life through the lens of God’s goodness. The recording of that goodness helps me to remember His gifts–and, ultimately, His love for me–no matter the circumstances. I think “forgetting” is a very human thing, whether it’s the good things or the bad things we forget. So much of God’s relationship with the Israelites throughout the Old Testament is imploring His people to remember. Remember where they’ve been. Remember what God has done for them. Remember how far they’ve come. Remember what the purpose is in all this. I think the same is true for us. It’s important to remember.
In speaking of how we are always going to struggle because our feet are on earth and our hearts in heaven, you reminded me of something I read recently (in re-reading Luci Shaw’s book, “Breath for the Bones”):
“Sometimes I have seen myself as an amphibian, like a frog, created for two elements. I dive beneath the lake’s surface, my earthly home, so that my skin doesn’t dry out and wither, but I need oxygen for my lungs and have to emerge from below the surface to breathe. I discover that I am made for both earth and heaven.” ~~Luci Shaw
I had never really thought before about how we are made for earth–because there’s so much pain and brokenness here and we’re told again and again that we’re citizens of heaven, that this world is not our home. And yet–God created us on earth, even before the fall. We were made for earth, not banished here because of our sin. I will be pondering the enormity of this for a long while, I think.
Love to you, Kim.
LikeLike
Courtney – It’s crazy you share that, because I’m reading a book that talks about that, too! The author shows throughout scripture we’re made for the physical things of this world just as much as the spiritual, and that enjoyment of and use of the physical things we’re blessed with is inherently spiritual because God Himself enjoys physical creation. Thanks for your thoughts. Love back to you!
LikeLike