There is not a single person alive who has not been affected by the pressures of life, the frustrations of lack, the hopelessness of a situation, or the suffering of pain, loss, sickness, and death. Many bury the anguish and move through life resentful, scared, and joyless. They feel as though life is unfair and, on some days, unbearable. They really just want to run away or find a way to lessen the pain. We all know from our own experiences or watching others running from their anguish it only extends the negative effects of any one of these situations and we fall deeper into the darkness. So, what’s the answer to dealing with these crises of life, is there any hope?
There is hope, but it’s found in perseverance, creativity, and resilience. Examples would be Nelson Mandela who was imprisoned for 27 years but persevered by enduring the hardships and later emerged to lead his country to freedom and became the first Black president. Then there’s Victor Frankl who endured the Holocaust and wrote a book about finding purpose in the darkest of times. Or how about the author of, “Harry Potter”, J.K. Rowling who was deep in poverty and depression, who never gave up, persevering till she escaped her poverty and depression. Their examples teach us there’s light in the darkness, that the crises of pressure, frustration, hopelessness, and suffering are surmountable through perseverance, creativity and resilience.
Have you heard the saying, “Facts tell, but Stories sale”. In finding your way out of crises in your life, reading life stories may give you the courage to persevere. You may even begin to see the light again and come up with ideas when acted upon that may extinguish your anguish of feeling less than or depressed to a brighter more joyful future. Giving it a good try surely can’t hurt. So, pick up a good book on a life story of someone who found themselves in the depths of hopelessness, who persevered and came out the other side with purpose, meaning, and victory. A couple books may be, “Unbroken” by Laura Hillenbrand, the story of Louie Zamperini or “The Class Castle” by Jannette Walls, which has to do with the dynamics of family relationships. You might even read “The Power of Positive Thinking” by Norman Vencent Peale is a book about how a positive attitude can change everything. But whatever you do find a story that interest you and begin.
Recently, a gentleman had found himself in quite a crisis. He had returned home from a deployment and had lost everything, from his wife, family, home, and even a car. He was truly beside himself and was spiraling quickly into a depressive state. Having little hope if any, he was traveling to visit other family to help with some of his needs. However, as destiny would have it, he found himself with a tire on his used car, which he had recently acquired and for which he had purchased new tires for going flat. Fortunately, he was able to make if to a tire store, but the only problem was he had no money.
As the story was told, the gentleman made his way into the store and ran into another gentleman who had been waiting for the counter help. As they waited, the gentleman with the tire problem began sharing the dire crisis he found himself in and how he wanted to just get to his little apartment with his dog and regress from the rest of the world. His problems were just too overwhelming. The pressure and frustration of life was just too much. He expressed his hopelessness and the emotional suffering he was experiencing. Little did he know his life was about to change for he had prayed earlier that morning for God to help him, actually he felt that was all he could do, he had come to his end. What he didn’t know was God was going to answer that prayer, you see, the other gentleman has spent time with God in prayer that morning too but had a different conversation with God. He had shared in his prayer that he was available to be used by God if needed. Through a series of circumstances both gentlemen ended up at the tire store. After hearing about the other gentleman’s crisis, a conversation began that caught the attention of two other men in the tire store, one of which was the owner. By the end of the conversation the gentleman turned all his cares over to God, decided he needed to turn his attention from himself to others, and in fact turned from his way of doing life to God.
What were the results of the encounter brought about by praying to God. Well, a gentleman surrendered his life and crisis to God and was made new, along with the answer to the other gentleman’s prayer of being available. How awesome is that? Oh, and by the way, the owner of the tire store who heard the conversation did not charge for his service of repairing the tire.
So, if you’re experiencing a crisis in your life, call out to God for help and he will help. Cast all your care on him for he cares for you!
Tags: 1 peter 5:7, hope, hoplessness, John 3:16, life stories, perseverence, Restoration, Romans 10:13, suffering
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