The phone rings and you think, “Oh no! What is it now?” It’s been that kind of season in your life. It seems like every time you turn around another crisis is looming. Your business is in trouble. A loved one is in the hospital. Your child is overwhelmed at school and constantly on the verge of tears. Another bill comes in the mail. You want to fix it all, for you, for your family, but you can’t. You cry out to God and ask Him to solve the riddles in your life and it seems like He is doing nothing. Where is He?! Why is everything so hard? When will this all be over?

You aren’t alone. That is the first thing to know. We all experience seasons where we feel like we are on the verge of drowning in trouble. But the truth is that somehow we stay afloat. How do we get through it? How do we keep it together when we feel like life is falling apart?

Reach out to God in the midst of your trial. He is at work even if you feel like He isn’t there. The truth is that when we are in a crisis we tend to focus our energy on trying to solve the problem. Sometimes the only solution we can come up with is to keep getting up in the morning and to do the best we can to go about our normal business. There is nothing wrong with that and often survival is success, but it isn’t the victory that God has for us. What if we survived with peace and joy in the midst of it? Wouldn’t that be victory? The only way to access that peace and joy is to call on God in the middle of the storm. I know He may feel far away. It is often confusing and frightening because it seems like we can’t feel God’s presence when we need Him most, but He is there. Reach out. Call on Him. Trust that He is there because Scripture promises that He is a very present help in trouble. (Psalm 46:1) When your breakthrough comes, and it will, it is the proof that He has been at work all along, even when you saw no evidence of His presence. Your peace and joy in the middle of the situation may even be the breakthrough that you need. 

Remember it won’t last forever. Think long. When we are in the middle of a trial it seems like it will last forever. We feel like this is the way it is and it will always be this way. You and I can lose the ability to envision a future without this current trouble. The temptation may be to look back. We can easily remember better times. Those times are certain because they have already happened, but it is difficult to envision future good times. The future, well it seems like a dream more than a reality. What’s the use of even trying to imagine something different than what is? Isn’t it better to be a realist? The good times I dream of may not even come. What’s the good of setting myself up for disappointment?

God never promised that this life would be devoid of troubles, but whatever it is that you face will not last forever. Every trial does have an end. It is true that some trials don’t end this side of heaven, but most do. Think for a moment about your current trial. How will you feel about your current situation in one year? Will it still be going on? If so, will you be the same? Most likely not. 

We lived downstairs in my parent’s house with two toddlers for three and a half years. We were in one large room divided by furniture. The kids’s beds were on one side of the room while the other side of the room was our living area and where Tom and I slept on a fold-out couch...for three and a half years! It felt like forever! And I didn’t always handle it very well. I wanted so much to move out and have our own place. I shed a lot of self-pity tears during that time. But now it takes the space of one or two sentences. We are past it and have been past it for a very long time. Both of those toddlers became pre-schoolers while we lived there, but soon they both will be on the other side of 30 years old! Keep that in mind and save yourself a few tissues. 

Look for evidence of God’s presence, no matter how small. Often in a trial the question we have is, “Where is God in this?” It can be hard to see Him at work because we are looking for the situation to change, but what if you looked for Him in a different way? What if you asked yourself what you are learning about Him in the middle of it all?

I learned so much during our downstairs years. I read books and listened to sermons. I read Scripture. If something really spoke to my heart II would write it on an index card and tape it on the back of the door of our little one-room home so that I would constantly see it. Those truths became my anchor in that storm and helped me to respond differently. But more than that, they became a part of me and how I handled future storms. I learned how to recognize God at work, even in a very difficult time. I wouldn’t go back to that trial, but I wouldn’t skip it either. The lessons I carried forward were worth it.  I know it is hard to believe right now, but one day you may say the same thing about your current trouble. 

Fix your eyes on the future that matters. Fix your eyes on eternity. I understand that seems difficult. You and I live in the here and now. Yet, as Christians the bedrock of our hope is that one day we will live forever in heaven with God. But we don’t have to wait until then to begin to experience it. Our eternity with God begins the moment we receive Christ. From that moment the fullness of who God is becomes available to us. It’s in our times of trouble that we can most experience the taste of eternity because, as we begin to recognize His presence, the contrast between now and then becomes so clear. When we fix our eyes on the eternal future, the light of the promise of complete victory begins to overshadow the darkness of our current battles. We can hold on to the truth that one day all of these troubles will be over and we will live with no tears or pain because of what Christ did on the cross. In the light of eternity, our current struggles, though immediately painful, become smaller, resolved, over. 

It may seem out of your reach right now, but it is the truth. You won’t escape your current pain by changing your perspective. I wish it were different, but it isn’t. But it is very likely that by changing your perspective you may find the power to persevere in the midst of it because you can see beyond it. Fixing your eyes on the eternal future, the future that matters, will help you to access the presence of the eternal God. 

What if you and I set our sights beyond potential good times on earth and set them on our future glory in heaven? We can’t count on future good times on earth. We will have them, that is certain, but we have no way of knowing when and how long they will last. What if we looked beyond now to the future that lasts forever? 

Understand that the promise of victory is not a situational one. It is a spiritual one. He wants us to experience the victory that results from an eternal perspective. When I keep my eyes on the eternal prize I am more able to overcome my current trouble with Christ-like grace and character. I dont get overwhelmed with anxiety or anger. Are they present? Sometimes, but in much smaller measure than if all I could see was my problem. When heaven gets bigger in my vision, my problems seem smaller. I am aware of them and continue to prayerfully navigate them, but I can access so much grace. I remember what really matters and what doesn’t. 

Dear One, I know that what you are going through at the moment may weigh heavy on you. When your phone rings you may be wondering what new trial is on the horizon. It may seem like the trouble is all there is and all there ever will be. But it isn’t. Fixing your eyes on the prize of eternity with Christ won’t end your current struggle, but it will help you to see it as temporary and help you to touch God in the midst of it. When you have the end in view you can make it through just about anything. Hold on to your eternal hope. There will be an end to all of our present pain and we will experience the promise fulfilled of eternal joy. Set your sights on that hope. Reach for the eternal prize. Focus on the future that matters. 

Key thought: In the light of eternity, our current struggles, though immediately painful, become smaller. 

A Scripture to consider: “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

A YES Challenge: Take some time to ask God to help you see Him in your current struggle. You may be surprised at where He shows up! As you read Scripture or listen to sermons write down the truths that most speak to your situation. You can use index cards or set reminders on your phone. Be creative to find ways that keep those truths before you as you navigate your storm. 

Prayer: Father, it is really hard to see beyond this current trial. It is hard to imagine it coming to and end. I really want it to be over right now! Help me to fix my eyes on the future that matters, my future in heaven with You. Help me to see you in the heart and now even if my situation doesn’t change. Help me to remember that You are at work in me, making me more like Jesus and that is preparing me for the future that really matters in heaven with you. I love you, Lord. Amen.