{Dear Weary Mom} Hard pressed, but not crushed

Acadia National Park, Maine. September 2011. 

Dear Weary Mom {and others who aren't raising little ones, but who are building companies and making decisions to change the world and wondering what's next ...},

I wrote earlier this week about feeling worn out. Honestly, it's a not a feeling that passes quickly. It hangs around like its your shadow. It nags like a fly buzzing around your head. But, you know, as crippling as weariness and sadness are, they aren't all there is in this life.

My head knows this. But sometimes it takes my heart a little longer to get the message, especially when insignificant circumstances don't go my way and pile up around me as I'm trying to deal with the rest of life. Usually I press through, throwing myself into whatever projects sit at the top of my to-do list. Really, though, holding on tighter and grasping for control is exactly what doesn't need to happen.

All the grasping and pressing and nagging caught up with me. One afternoon this week, I sat on my front porch and cried. Then I turned to a blank page in my journal and wrote. I wrote for me. I wrote to God. It had been far too long. He knows my heart, but I needed to pour it out anyway onto those pages.

And as I wrote, I thought about this truth:

"Therefore, since through God's mercy, we have this ministry, we do not lose heart. ... But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. 

... With that same spirit of faith we also believe and therefore speak, because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you in his presence. All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God. Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. ... So we fix our eyes not on what is seen but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."

{From 2 Corinthians 4}

The aches and pains. The hard days. The dreams that don't work out like we hope. The times we have to say no to something we want. The tears. The fractured relationships. The piles of laundry and stacks of fears. The problems that are hard to solve. All of these things are temporary. They won't last forever, but our journey through them will build within us a faith that will remain.  So, hang in there, weary mom {or weary person ...}, we're going to get there.
________

I'm linking up with Hope for the Weary Mom, where there is much real-life encouragement. I'm finding other encouragement in these pages: "Desperate: Hope for the Mom Who Needs to Breathe" by Sarah Mae and Sally Clarkson and "Hope for the Weary Mom" by Stacey Thacker and Brook McGlothin. 

Want more? Subscribe to get "Insights" in your inbox. Like 152 Insights on Facebook. Or follow me on Twitter and Instagram. Affiliate links included.