A friend asked me recently, who is going through a lot of hard things, “How do you keep waking up everyday and getting out of bed?”

Through no fault of her own, she’s just sort of stuck in the “life is hard and then you die” mentality. I’ve been there. So, I offered her some encouragement, though I didn’t feel worthy to offer it. Sometimes I think that we feel as if we have to suffer the most excruciating things before we can extend to someone else any kind of hope.

But, we all have places where we’ve suffered and if God gets us through that, it’s not just for us. It’s for others, too.

So, just in case you woke up today and needed to hear this, I’m sharing these things for you, too.
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Thing to remember #1: It won’t always be this painfully hard.

Listen. This is the part where I wish I could put my hands on your shoulders and look into your sparkle eyes. The reason why life feels so difficult right now, is because what you are gong through, really truly sucks. It’s hard and it stinks and it hurts and it’s terrible.

But, it won’t last. You will get through this. You will! There is life on the other side of this trial you are facing. And you were made to do hard things. Hold on, little darlin’. Just hold on and keep walking. One step. And then another. And if you can’t walk, then crawl. And if you can’t crawl, just lay there and breathe.

This, too, shall pass.

Thing to remember #2: The crud that you are going through won’t be wasted.

The waiting. The hoping and not yet seeing. The trying and failing. The praying and not feeling it. The everyday grinding it out, and wondering what the purpose is. The bearing long with another. All of it. It is all so useful to your soul.

We all just want to coast, but God uses the howling, swirling, stormy moments of our lives to help us become our most beautiful selves.

If you will give the hard to Him and work with Him in it, you will become more loving. More patient. More compassionate. More fiery passionate. More faithful and pure and true.

And then you will find yourself going on a walk with a friend one day, saying, “Awe, yes. I was there once, too. And I got through. You will make it out alive, too!” And with the comfort that God gave to you, when you were in the thick of it, you will be able to comfort someone else.

Thing to remember #3. The world is a beautiful, mysterious, adventurous place to be. And God made you insatiably curious so that every new day, you could learn and grow and be excited about life.

There are people around you with stories inside of them that will blow you away. And you are a much needed and wanted part of the story. Even if your emotions are telling you things that aren’t true.

So, get up. Again. Open the curtains. Set your face to the sunlight. Ask your Father God for your glory-starved eyes to be opened! Ask Him for eyes like you had as a child when you looked on a caterpillar or a moth or an autumn leaf with little kid eyes of wonder.

The ground beneath your feet is drenched in God-glory and possibility. There is meaningful work here, that only you can do.

Arise, little soul. Come and see.