It’s Gonna Be Worth It

November 7, 2026 Cathleen Zahradnik

“If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.” 1 Corinthians 15:19 NIV

I don’t remember the exact setting when I first heard the song. But that song changed my perspective on life.

It was one of the most difficult seasons of our lives. Depression was oppressing our home. I was struggling to help Tom through it, keep our kids cared for, and not break under the weight. It seemed like this was going to last the rest of my life. It was an effort just to get through each day. Maybe you’ve been through a season like that. When you are in it, it’s hard to see your way through it. All you know is that it wasn’t supposed to be like this.

The verses of the song described that kind of feeling and the singer’s voice conveyed the pain of it all. Then she began to sing the chorus.

It’s gonna be worth it. It’s gonna be worth it. It’s gonna be worth it all.

Hearing those words reminded me that, as hard as that season was, it wouldn’t last forever. It felt like forever while I was in it. But the song reminded me that forever is more than this life. This life is not all there is. In the end, my faith will bring me home to Jesus. That reminder lifted me above the situation. Even though it was dark, I knew there was a light I could not yet see.

Have you ever visited a sunken forest? I had that opportunity years ago. It was a unique experience. It was a clear, bright day as we descended into the trees by a wooden staircase. At the bottom of the stairs, we stepped onto the forest path. The path led us through the trees. It was dark. But I knew that, although the leaves obscured the sun, it still shone above the trees. When we climbed up the stairs at the end of the path and out of the sunken forest, we re-emerged into the bright sunlight.

Your hardest season is like a sunken forest. The sun may be obscured, but it is still shining. You will reach the end of the dark path and come back into the light. Your journey in the dark is a small piece of the bigger picture. It’s gonna be worth it.

Your life is more than what you are living right now. Above the dark, the light still shines, regardless of what you are walking through. It is gonna be worth it.

Heaven may seem far away. Because we can only imagine it, heaven may seem like a dream. But if our hope in Christ is only about helping us through this life, then we miss the point. Jesus’ death and resurrection are about so much more than a better life on earth. It was about restoring our eternal relationship with the God who was and is and IS TO COME.

You and I have a future beyond our earthly life. It’s hard to imagine, but it is real. Above the current darkness, the light continues to shine brightly. Someday we will walk up the stairs and into the glorious light. And every season of darkness will be worth the struggle.

It’s gonna be worth it all.

Key Question: How does keeping an eternal perspective help in hard seasons?

A Scripture to Consider: “If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.” 1 Corinthians 15:19 NIV

A YES Challenge: Take a walk in the woods near you as a reminder that the sun still shines above the trees.

Prayer: Dear Lord, it’s easy to become overwhelmed in the dark when life is hard. Help me to remember that someday it’s going to be worth it. Help me to keep an eternal perspective and believe that this life is not all there is. Someday I will be with You, and all of this will be worth the struggle. Amen

If you find my posts encouraging, then you will like my book, The YES Adventure: Transform Your Life with One Word. Check it out for encouragement, inspiration, and more about God-centered goal-setting. Please leave a review on Amazon! That will help other people find the book and receive guidance and encouragement in living a God-centered life.

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When You Have What You Don’t Want or Want What You Don’t Have

October 31, 2026 Cathleen Zahradnik

“All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort. He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us. For the more we suffer for Christ, the more God will shower us with his comfort through Christ.” 2 Corinthians 1:3-5 NLT

More that thirty years ago I was listening to a cassette recording (Remember those?!) of the well-known author and speaker, Elisabeth Elliot. In her message she defined suffering as “having what you don’t want or wanting what you don’t have.” That concept encompassed every listener. It changed how I viewed suffering.

Are you going through a hard time right now? According to Elisabeth Elliott’s definition, you are suffering. How are you finding comfort? What if the path to comfort is through your suffering?

Suffering is anything that disrupts comfort. At the time, we were living in my parents' basement with two toddlers. It seemed like that time would never end. I was unhappy, frustrated, and struggling. All I wanted was a home of my own. I wanted what I didn’t have and had what I didn’t want. By Elisabeth Elliott’s definition, I was suffering. Her message went on to describe a faith-filled response to suffering: Worship and Offering. She encouraged her listeners —she encouraged me — to bring the suffering to Jesus and offer it to Him as an act of worship. That changed everything. That led to comfort.

Suffering comes before comfort. If you are not suffering, you don’t need comfort, do you? We often think of comfort as a glassy, sunlit, calm sea. A life with no troubles. That isn’t comfort, although it is peace. Peace is a by-product of comfort. But comfort has to do with relief, and relief comes after trouble.

Dear friend, there is a promise from Jesus that we often ignore.

What To Do in the Dark (Repost)

October 24, 2026 Cathleen Zahradnik

'I want them to be encouraged and knit together by strong ties of love. I want them to have complete confidence that they understand God’s mysterious plan, which is Christ himself. In him lie hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. ' Colossians 2:2-3

It was a dark time, one of the darkest times I have ever lived through. A loved one was struggling through the shadows of depression and every day was a battle. Just getting out of bed and facing the mundane tasks of daily life took every ounce of my strength. The future was a wall of fog. The present was a slog through mud with a backpack full of rocks. It was all I could do to just get through today.

Maybe that is where you are right now, Dear Friend. I am so sorry that you find yourself in such a difficult time. One thing I heard from a conference speaker that helped me through my darkness and gave me perspective was this: Every trial will come to an end. As those words rang in the arena and resounded in my ears my heart knew that they were true. In the course of a time that seemed to last forever, I eventually experienced that truth in my circumstance. You will experience it in yours. You will.

But while you are in it, can I offer you some perspective? Something I learned from walking through my own fog? Jesus really is enough. He is!

Living Out Faith in Uncertain Times

October 17, 2026 Cathleen Zahradnik

“We think you ought to know, dear brothers and sisters, about the trouble we went through in the province of Asia. We were crushed and overwhelmed beyond our ability to endure, and we thought we would never live through it. In fact, we expected to die. But as a result, we stopped relying on ourselves and learned to rely only on God, who raises the dead. And he did rescue us from mortal danger, and he will rescue us again. We have placed our confidence in him, and he will continue to rescue us.” 2 Corinthians 1:8-10 NLT

Faith in uncertain times. That’s been the theme of my posts for a while now. At the moment, I am living that out.

Tom and I went out of town for a trip and found ourselves in an uncertain time. He had been feeling fatigued, but nothing that we recognized as a red flag. Then he woke up in the middle of the night in extreme pain. A trip to the ER revealed pneumonia. A CT scan raised some questions about the origin of the infection. Subsequently, he was admitted. Over the next few days, doctors did a variety of tests to determine what was actually happening in Tom’s body.

At this point, they have ruled out the most threatening possibilities. Tom is responding to the IV antibiotics and the pain is mitigated, though not completely gone. We are still waiting for word of when he might be released to recover at home. He usually drives the long trips. This time it will be me.

So that is our current situation. An uncertain time. What can I tell you about my faith in a time like this?

First, over the years I have learned to accept situations as they are. The only thing I can control about this is me. I can’t speed up Tom’s healing so that we can go home. God controls the timing. Whether He heals miraculously or works through doctors, the timing isn't up to me. The best thing I can do is trust Him to work in the way He sees fit.

Often, our strong desire to control situations causes the most stress. The longing to circumvent the circumstance or make it stop leads to a great deal of angst. Accepting the situation as it is helps me direct my energy towards what is actually happening, rather than fighting against it.

When All You Can Do is Press On

October 10, 2026 Cathleen Zahradnik

“Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:12-14 NIV

Have you ever been in a season where all you can do is just keep getting up every day? It’s called survival mode.

Maybe there is a situation you can’t resolve. You can’t fix it or pray it away. Every morning you wake up to the same challenge. It seems like this may last for the rest of your life and you just don’t know how you are going to make it through.

In survival mode, the only thing that seems possible is to keep doing what you need to do to live. Go to work. Pack the kids' lunches and get them off to school. Buy the groceries. Cook the dinner. Get the kids to bed. Fall into bed yourself. And then do it all again tomorrow.

The happiness of the past is a distant memory. The future is a black hole. The only thing you can see is now. And now is like slogging through a marsh in combat gear. Heavy and messy. And you don’t know how long it will take to get out of the slop.

What if persevering is the only thing you can do? Then persevere, my friend. Press on.

Finding Rest for Your Soul. Part 2

October 3, 2026 Cathleen Zahradnik

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30 NIV

Soul. It’s a word we use often but is hard to truly define. What is your soul?

I’ve been thinking about this, and when I looked it up, I found that there are many definitions of what the soul is, but if we get down it, I think we can define the soul as the inner essence of who we are — the mind, the will, the emotions — everything that makes you you on the inside. It’s hard to quantify the soul but we are aware of its influence.

When your soul is unsettled, you just don’t feel right on the inside. You may not be able to articulate what is happening, but you know something is off. So, what does it mean to come to Jesus in those moments? What does it mean to come to Jesus and find rest for your soul?

What if it is as simple as bringing all those feelings to Him, recognizing that these feelings are messages that you can’t quite decipher? What if He is the One who can decipher them? To come to Jesus in that moment may mean laying those feelings before Him and trusting that even if He doesn’t reveal the meaning right away, He will walk you through to the other side, that He is with you to carry the burden. Wouldn’t that lead to rest for your soul?

Finding Rest for Your Soul

September 26, 2026 Cathleen Zahradnik

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30 NIV

When you and I are going through difficult times, we want to do something. We don’t want to feel helpless and overwhelmed. We want to find ways to control outcomes. We don’t want to be passive. Or maybe that isn’t you. Maybe you give up in despair and hopelessly ride the waves without acting at all.

Neither of those approaches are going to bring us peace in the middle of the storm. Either we exhaust ourselves fighting against the waves of turmoil, or we succumb to the torrent and are overwhelmed by the tumult. But how do we find peace in the middle of the storm? What actions can we take?

Come to Jesus. This is active. It’s a choice we can make. We may not know exactly what that looks like, but we can choose it. To come to Jesus is to bring whatever you are thinking or feeling to Him. It doesn’t have to be pretty, poetic, perfect, or even prayerful. It’s a relationship, right? He loves you without any polish. Just come.

Receive what He gives. What does He give? Understanding, Wisdom. His presence right there with you in the middle of the mess.

Clarity After Action, Not Before

September 19, 2026 Cathleen Zahradnik

“The LORD had said to Abram, “Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you. I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you.” So Abram departed as the LORD had instructed, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran.” Genesis 12:1-4 NLT

Many of us who follow Christ often struggle with knowing what God is asking of us. At least, I do. Maybe I am alone here, but I think not.

Often, the question is, “God, what are you saying to me?” What I’ve found is that I keep asking the question even when I feel like I have a sense of what God may have spoken. I have an inkling of what God is asking of me. I can see the next step. But I hesitate to take it because I can’t see where that step will lead. I can’t see a clear outcome, so I hesitate. Anyone else?

What I see in the life of Abraham is that he took the step of obedience even when the outcome wasn’t clear. He demonstrated faith and trust in God by acting. He went without knowing because he knew that God said go and had promised to bless him. No detailed action plan with stated outcomes. Just, “Go. And I will bless you.” So, Abraham went.

The thing about Abraham is that he didn’t do that just once.

He left Ur.
He divided the land with Lot,
He went up the mountain prepared to sacrifice Isaac.

He didn’t always do it perfectly. (Ask Sarah or Hagar.) But overall, Abraham demonstrated a life of obedience before clarity. A simple principle. Simple, but not easy.

It seems like Abraham lived a life that had a simple theme: Obey first. Understand after.

I don’t know about you, but I like to understand before I act!

This is Not Forever

September 12, 2026 Cathleen Zahradnik

“For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.” 2 Corinthians 4:17-18 NLT

As I tearfully opened the sodden boxes of our stored belongings, wondering what was ruined, a verse came to mind,

“Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.” Matthew 6:19-21 NLT

We were temporarily living with my parents, and our stuff was stored in Tom’s parents' garage. They had a plumbing issue in their bathroom above the garage, causing a leak that soaked several of our boxes and other items, including our mattress. We weren’t sure what was salvageable.

That period of time was already difficult. We were waiting for a job to open up and unsure how long that would take, how long we would be living with my parents, how long our stuff would be stored. Both sets of parents had been patient, loving, and gracious. There was no one to blame for the water damage. Sometimes things just happen.

But when that verse popped into my brain, it completely changed my perspective on going through the damage. The tears didn’t stop. There was some mourning and disappointment. But at the same time, there was hope. This was temporary. These things were just things. What really mattered was how I responded. I could choose an eternal perspective. I could choose to treasure Christ more than an earthly possession.

As it turned out, very few of our things were unsalvageable, and insurance more than covered anything that was lost. But the eternal perspective I gained is a treasure that I still carry. That simple shift helped me through the three and a half years of living in the in-between.

Do You Believe?

September 5, 2026 Cathleen Zahradnik

“For the Scriptures tell us, “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.”Romans 4:3 NLT

How do you handle the inevitable uncertain circumstances in your life? Believe it or not, your response says a lot about what you believe about God.

I’ve recognized that my response is usually to try to get more information about the situation. I search the internet for possible causes or solutions. I try to understand the people involved and reason out why they are acting the way they do. Understanding and information make me feel more like I have a handle on the uncertainty. Information makes me feel like I have some control. But do I? Not really.

What does that say about what I believe about God? Do I really believe that He is in control and working for my good if I feel like I need to be in control? Do I really believe that He loves me and is for me? There must be some doubt about that. Time for some self-reflection!

I’ve been thinking about Abraham. He is referred to as the father of those who have faith (Romans 4:11-17). What makes him an example of faith to follow for you and me?

The Scripture says that he believed God, and God counted that as righteousness, in right relationship with Him. (Genesis 15:6, Romans 4:3)

If that is the example, then what can we learn from Abraham’s belief?

I’ve been asking myself some questions.

What made Abraham believe God? What made Him choose to believe what God had spoken to Him and to go without knowing where he was going? My conclusion is that Abraham believed God because of what He believed about God. What did he believe about God?