How to be content when life is hard

Is it possible to be content when life feels so difficult, hard and even overwhelming?

Is peace possible while everything still feels unfinished?

“I can do all this through Christ who gives me strength.”

Philippians 4:13 

When I feel like I just can’t anymore I lean in close. Cry out to The Lord and reach out to the people closest to me.

I am comforted when I read, “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but The Lord will deliver them from them all.”

Did you get that? He will deliver us from them all. Every. Single. One.

Not just some of the afflictions, but all of them.

“In all things give thanks.”

Is it difficult for you to give thanks in difficulty?

Me too.

Sometimes it can feel like one season of hard turned into a whole life of hard.

It is challenging to see the beauty in the hardship.

But there is beauty, even here.

How do we learn to be content?

“I have learned to be content at all times.”

Joseph is one of my favorite people in the bible. Though often misunderstood by his family. All of the hardships he faced helped to shape him into the man who could forgive and embrace his brothers freely.

Transformed him into the man who saved the entire world at the time, from famine.

I often think of Josephs words to his brothers in the book of Genesis, “what you meant for evil, God used for good.”

Content at all times?

How could Paul say that He had learned to be content at all times, and that He would do all things through Christ who gives Him strength?

Listen to his final words in Philippians 4,

⁴ Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! ⁵ Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. ⁶ Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

⁸ Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. ⁹ Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

Before He ever gets to Philippians 4:13, doing all things through Christ, these scriptures gently whisper, this is the way.

This is the way we can learn to be content.

This is the way we keep breathing. The way we keep showing up.

We don’t rejoice in our circumstances, but in The LORD. We rejoice in Him. In His Strength. In His Might. In His love. In His hope that is ours through Christ.

It is an the invitation to run to Him for safety and refuge from the storm.

This we rejoice in. And as we rejoice in Him He gives us confidence to keep going.

We find ourselves in another season of unknowns. 

If your life feels like you are in a war, please lean in sister, it is because we are.

Our fight is not against flesh and blood. It is against powers, authorities and principalities in the heavenly realm.

Our enemy is not one we can see. It is certainly not your neighbor. Not your boss. Not your spouse. Not your siblings. Not your co-workers. Not your children.

These are not our enemy.

We have a choice to make:

Every single day, multiple times a day. I am met with a decision, a choice. Will I listen to fear?

Or will I be content in the unknown. Will I rest in the unchanging nature of God.

Or will I listen to the voice of control that demands I find all the answers and try to figure out life all on my own.

Will I trust God and wait on His timing. Or will I run ahead of Him?

Everyday we get to make a choice to run to Father with the worries, fears and anxiety that arise.

The Lord does not want us to run in fear.

But in trust and confident assurance that God will once again meet us in our uncertainty. Meet us in the in between.

Because it was a long time (about 25 years) from the time Father spoke the promise to Abram and Sarai, to the time Abraham and Sarah would give birth to Isaac.

I remind myself of what I know to be truth. I quote scripture to myself and remind Father of His promises. 

“I would have despaired, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of The Lord in the land of the living.” Wait on The Lord, be strong and let your heart take courage, yes, wait on The Lord.”

Waiting on The Lord

Dictionary.com defines Waiting as: 

“the action of staying where one is or delaying an action until a particular time or until something else happens.”

So what do we do in the waiting? Does it matter how we wait? 

Are there things we can be doing while we are waiting to see how The Lord will see us through? To bring the promise to fulfillment? 

I believe so. 

Sister, the waiting is never wasted. 

Let me say that again, your time of waiting, will not be wasted! 

The Lord will use this time to draw us to Himself. To provide us His comfort. 

His compassion and His mercy.

To remind us of His faithfulness and to show us a clear path, if we will wait on Him. 

I shared with a friend this week how easy it is for me to want to get ahead of God. 

Not because I know better but because I get going and next thing I know, I look around and God is way back there. 

I’ve gotten ahead of Him more times than I can remember, and each time I’ve ended up in a mess I needed Him to get me out of. 

And He does it.  Gladly. 

Never condemning me for not waiting on Him. But gently reminding me why it is that He leads me by still waters.

Gently reminding me He goes before me on purpose and for a purpose. 

Closing:

Sister, not a single one of us knows how our lives will look even days from now, and it benefits us nothing to stress and worry about what we cannot change. 

So while worry is a very natural part of the human experience it isn’t something I love to experience. 

The truth is, these reveal our vulnerability and our human nature. 

The Lord knows exactly how He has formed us. 

He knows our form. He remembers that we are dust. 

He gives us these commands knowing full well, we will fall short. 

But He will be there to help us get back up. 

He has given us His Spirit. And His Spirit will not leave us! 

He will give us of His strength and His courage. 

His Faith becomes our own. 

So much so that we even forget we were just lying in the fetal position crying out for The Lord to see us through. 

Father does not despise sitting with us. He delights for us to rest in Him.

My hope for us is to learn to be content in the unknowns our lives can bring.

It is not possible to live on this earth and not experience hardship.

You know what is possible? Walking through difficulty and still feeling His peace and joy within us.

Because these two are not dependent on our circumstances. They are gifts of Gods spirit.

Sister, I do not know what your today looks like. If it is anything like mine, I am so sorry and please know I believe The Lord will see us through!

He will not leave us to flounder to figure it out on our own. He has given us His Spirit, He will see us through.

My prayer for us is that our faith will be strengthened during this time of trial and that our joy will abound all the more, not because we know how everything will turn out,

but because we know The One who holds us together.

It has been a little while since I’ve share Louie Giglio’s video with y’all. I don’t get tired of listening and I pray you wont either.

There is a full version, this is the five minute video. Enjoy!

The Lord is within us sister, we will not fail! Not by our might or our own strength, but by the might and strength of The Lord.

In Him we live and breathe and have our being. In Him we will be held together, because His Word tells us, In Him, all things, yes, all things, are held together.

We are loved sister.

If you’re having a hard time holding on, remember it is His grip that matters the most, and He wont let go.

yessi Argabright

We’re in good hands.

Sister, I would love for you to consider subscribing to our blog.

If this post has blessed you, would you share it with the people you love, especially those who find themselves in a waiting season.

Thank you so dearly.

Spend time in prayer this week. Seek to know The Lord sister. Allow His Spirit to minister to your heart.

Bible, Pen and paper and see what He might reveal to you today.

This is one of my most favorite songs by Jeremy Riddle, love his surrender and worship.

Dig deeper:

Psalms 23, Psalms 27, John 10:27