God Is with Us as We Struggle 

I woke up one morning recently after not sleeping well. I will admit that I was feeling stressed. I was preparing for extra activities with both church and family for Easter weekend, in addition to my responsibilities in connection with a church association gathering that would occur a few days afterwards. However, the main source of my emotional distress was the fact that I had been in a car accident the previous day. I was fine physically, but there was a traumatic aspect to the incident that kept replaying in my mind. I was struggling.

As I followed my normal routine of opening my Bible to spend a few minutes in God’s Word, I was overwhelmed by the appropriateness of the scriptures I encountered. These were not passages I intentionally sought out, but they were simply the next chapters that followed my regular reading schedule. The one from the Old Testament was about the time when the prophet Elijah was struggling. He was greatly discouraged while on the run from an evil queen who wanted to kill him. Yet God met Elijah, encouraging him and directing him about the work God still had for him to do. The passage I encountered from the New Testament included a familiar verse, but one I especially needed to hear that particular morning. “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Jesus Christ (Philippians 4:6-7).

I confess that the personal applications of my morning Bible readings aren’t always that clear. However, on this occasion, the Lord knew that I was struggling and needed to be reminded of certain truths. Maybe more than that, I needed this indication that God was there, He knew what I was going through, He cared, and He would help me through it. The biblical truths themselves were important and helpful, but it was especially comforting simply to meet with God, to feel His presence, and to know He was reaching out to me in this moment of need.

We all struggle at times. Maybe we don’t have wicked queens chasing us and end up in a wilderness ready to give up on life like Elijah did. Hopefully we don’t experience traumatic accidents very often, as I went through. However, we all face various degrees of stress in our lives. They can stem from family matters, job issues, health concerns, the loss of a loved one, or simply the busy-ness of life. Sometimes we are able to breeze right through those experiences without much effort. However, on other occasions they can cause us to struggle mightily. I have always been amazed at how Elijah could stand so boldly against a king and his false prophets, win a great victory over them, and then turn around almost immediately to face such a struggle with fear and depression. We never know what circumstance might trigger our struggles.  

The good news is that God is with us during those times. Maybe He will speak to us through His Word as He did with me that morning. Maybe He will minister to us through a song, a time of worship, the words of a friend or pastor, or through some other means. Maybe it will be through that still small voice that Elijah heard in his situation. Even if God is silent during those tough times, we can be assured that He is there and that He cares. So let’s keep trusting Him no matter how hard our difficulties may be. Struggles will come at times, but God will come and be there with us too.