Take Heart

Today is not a good day for me, pain-wise. I've known it was coming; the pain and the exhaustion has been getting gradually worse over the last few days, and today it is full blown, throughout my whole body, including a migraine. It is easy to be discouraged when I'm feeling like this, and it is often difficult to see beyond these immediate circumstances. However, I am reminded of two things today.

The first is that this body and it's ills are only temporary. Isaiah points to Heaven in Isaiah 33:24 where it says, "No one living in Zion will say, 'I am ill; and the sins of those who dwell there will be forgiven." It is a great comfort to me to know that, someday, all this weakness will be stripped away. Like a plant forced to start its growth in a pot too small for the end product, a pot that would never be used to display a beautiful, mature flower, my soul is contained in a flawed shell that is not meant to contain it forever.

The second thing I'm reminded of today is something my aunt said to me recently. She told me that, when things in my life make it too difficult for me to stand, that's ok, because all I really need to do is kneel. This resonated so deeply with me because, while this phrase is beautiful in its figurative implications, I often find it difficult to stand on a purely physical level, simply because it hurts to do so. In addition, for all of us, there are so many things that can drive us to our knees. For me, it's often my pain. For others, particularly on a day like today, the anniversary of 9/11, it is our grief, or our fear, or our weary hearts. But we don't need to see kneeling as weakness. Not being able to remain on our feet isn't an admission of defeat. Instead, we take that opportunity to acknowledge that God has more power than we can ever comprehend. The power to handle not only our pain, grief, fear, and weariness, but also the power to overcome all the circumstances that cause us to feel that way. When I find myself on my knees, I remember John 16: 33 which says, "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."

Today's Verse
John 16: 33
I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.