How To Keep Going When Life Sucks

Rise Holy
5 min readAug 26, 2024

Have you ever heard that when you come to God all your problems will go away? That God will make you to walk on rainbows and nothing bad will ever happen? Even if you haven’t heard these exact words, I am quite sure you’ve heard something similar. Well, if you’ve been living for a while, you probably know that is not the case. And the truth of the matter is that God never promised us that. So where does that leave us? If we’re being honest it can leave us annoyed, disappointed, confused, and angry. Most likely, some combination of all of the above. But here’s the thing God didn’t promise us life would be easy. He did promise us peace and gave us some ways to deal with our difficulties though. That is what I want to focus on in this post.

The Bible Tells Us Life Will Be Hard Sometimes

Just look at what so many in the written Word of the Lord had to go through!

David, a man after God’s own heart was on the run for his life for years! Moses had to deal with rude and cruel people his entire life even though he’d been raised as a prince. The apostles were often beaten, imprisoned and slandered. Jesus Himself, although entirely pure and innocent endured 39 lashes, crucifixion, being made a mockery…for us. None of that sounds easy, does it?

In John 16:33, Jesus tells us that in this life we will have tribulation. That means trouble, hard times, rough patches. However, He goes on to say that He has overcome the world, so we can be joyful. Likewise Acts 14:22 tells us that the disciples had to be encouraged because they knew that to enter into the Kingdom of God meant enduring some hard times. John 15:18 tells us that the world hates us. When have you ever seen someone making life easier or fun for someone they hate? Doesn’t happen too often, does it?

So we know that because we have chosen to walk toward the Narrow Gate (Matthew 7:13–14) our lives will have tribulation. We are called to pick up our cross daily, to run the race and fight the fight of faith. None of those things are easy. I am not saying that whoever told you life would be peaches and cream was outright lying to you, but perhaps they weren’t informed of the truth. We will have trouble, but…

God Gives Us Encouragement

Even in the Old Testament, the Lord always gave His people a way of escape. The same is true today. Praise God!

One of my favorite passages of scripture is David’s triumphant song in 2 Samuel 22. I won’t quote it all here, but I suggest you give it a look in the version you most resonate with. But here are the verses that remind me of how small my problems are in comparison to God.

31 As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the Lord is tried: he is a buckler to all them that trust in him.

32 For who is God, save the Lord? and who is a rock, save our God?

33 God is my strength and power: and he maketh my way perfect.

This passage lets me know that God will do what He promised and keep me as long as I trust in Him. His plans for me are good even when what I am going through doesn’t feel so good. The Lord also promises to give us rest when we are bogged down and burdened by the cares of everyday life (Matthew 11:28). John 14:27 reminds us that while life may bring troubles, we don’t have to be troubled (anxious or stressed) because we have the peace of the Lord. And guess what, according to 2 Corinthians 4:17, our afflictions are temporary. Isn’t that nice to know? Besides, we know that there will come a time when there will be no more crying or bad days (Revelation 7:16–17).

The Father promises to be with us, to watch over us, to take care of us. He sees us in the middle of our issues, just as He saw Hagar in the book of Genesis. He knows our names as well as what weighs heavy on our hearts. You aren’t alone or forgotten.

What are some other scriptures that you look to for encouragement? Let me know in the comments!

How Do We Keep Going?

Having scriptures to look on is nice and all, but not enough. There are certain things we must put into practice if we want to be able to keep walking the walk with our heads held high in spite of our circumstances.

One thing I suggest doing is to not only read the scripture but memorize it. Repeat a verse daily until you have it down. Make sure it is one that encourages you, not just one people tell you a “good” Christian should have memorized. Another suggestion is to listen to worship. We all know that where light exists, there can be no shadow. Likewise, when you spend time in God’s presence, you don’t have time to think about all of life’s issues. And the more you worship, the smaller said issues become. It’s a paradigm shift. In this world, we are taught to be pessimistic, so it isn’t easy at first. We are taught to have back up plans and think about what’s happening in “the real world,” but is it real if we aren’t including the Creator? I don’t think so.

I also suggest that you get into a godly community. Find some people who aren’t just talking the talk but walking the walk. When you have good people around you, it is hard to stay negative and it’s even harder to get in that “pity party” mode of thinking. Perhaps your first instinct is to isolate yourself, but instead, make it a point to stay around godly individuals you can be your authentic self around.

--

--

Rise Holy
Rise Holy

Written by Rise Holy

Helping you follow Christ in a dark world. Helping you keep your head up when things seem bleak. A Christian living blog for today.

No responses yet