Getting my son up for school in the morning is like walking with someone through the 5 Stages of Grief and Loss.
First there is denial, “It’s not morning! It’s still dark out!!” Then anger. This includes thrashing around in the bed, moaning, guttural sobs, and shouts of resistance. Next comes bargaining. “Can I sleep for two more minutes?”, “I don’t really have to go today, right?” “Can today be a stay at home day then I’ll go to school tomorrow?” Depression follows, exhibited in the slow walk downstairs dragging his trusty blue blankey behind him. It’s a painful, forced walk as if it’s taking everything he has to put one foot in front of the other. He’ll slump over on the couch and briefly visit the land of Bargaining again as he makes futile requests for shows. He may even toss in a, “but I don’t feel good” in a last ditch effort before acceptance finally sets in and he gets dressed.
It’s an arduous and painful process that gets repeated daily. Some mornings he wakes up on his own, we have snuggle time and he’s happy and excited to get to school. But most mornings, regardless of what time he went to bed, he just doesn’t want to do it.
Can you relate to the daily struggle? Things you just don’t want to do. Maybe they’re things you know you should do, like exercise and eating kale. Or maybe it’s walking into a job you hate every single day. Perhaps it’s waking up each day to face a chronic illness or maybe it’s just facing that mountain of laundry. You might be walking through a true process of grief and loss as you’ve had a loved one taken from you all too soon.
Whatever it is friend, take heart that this is only your “right now”. I’m in no way comparing laundry to loss of life. Those are completely different struggles, with very different processes. Some of you are walking hard long roads of struggle that seem to last all too long and one inspirational post isn’t going to change those circumstances nor bring the salve needed to heal your hurting places.
But perhaps you’ll find the Savior who can.
You see, God not only has our future, where one day He’ll wipe every tear from our eyes, He has our right now. This walk with Jesus would be awfully difficult and disappointing if all we had was the assurance of some day. Giving your life to Christ is so much more than a ticket to Heaven. It’s a guarantee that you never have to do ~ right now ~ alone!
When you’re walking the slow painful walk, dragging your blankey behind you, He’s there. Breathing fresh air of hope into your lungs, speaking life into your soul, singing over you in the dark, opening your eyes to see there is so much more than the turmoil directly in front of you. There is a peace that passes all understanding that can only be experienced through pain. It’s in those hard places of right now, we see Him more clearly and glimpse the unfathomable love of a Father who is absolutely crazy about us.
My prayer is that you’ll trust him. With your tomorrow, with eternity, with the pain from your past and with your right now, I pray you’ll invite him into all your mess.
The right now road load is lighter when the Creator of life is carrying it all.
“Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.”
1 Peter 5:6-7