Hope Again.

We all have low moments. Moments in life where we find ourselves in a place of disappointment, discouragement, and even deep despair. I’ve had many moments in my life that were low, so low to the point that I didn’t want to get back up again. I didn’t want to fight again. I didn’t want to hope again. I didn’t want to feel again.

The past two years of my life have been a rollercoaster, to say the least. As a graduate student, I encountered many low moments. Moments of inadequacy, deep insecurity, failure and flat out, frustration! As I walked through the process of obtaining my degree, and as I continue to walk it out, I’ve realized that low moments are a part of this journey called life. In fact, most of the time, they’re inevitable. We will all face disappointment at some point in our lives. We will all experience discouragement. We will all experience some sort of failure, and when we do face them, it’s okay to feel, it’s okay to mourn, it’s okay to cry on the shoulder of someone you trust or cry out to God. It’s good to get it all out. However, after we do this, it’s important for us to get back up again.

Getting back up can be hard, especially when you don’t feel like you have the strength to do it. It’s also hard when you’ve experienced failure after failure, or disappointment after disappointment. In these moments though, I've learned that we get to choose what our next move will be. Will we remain in our low state, or will we choose to get back up again and fight, even if we don’t feel like doing it?

This is the question I’m always faced with when I find myself in a low place. After I’ve already cried and talked to God about how I’m feeling, I always ask myself, “Okay, so, what are you going to do now, Christna? Are you gonna continue wallowing in self-pity, or are you going to get up and fight one more time?” I’ve come to ask you the same question today. What are you going to do now? Those of you walking through a hard season, like myself... Are you going to remain in your pit of despair, or are you going to get back up and fight again? Believe again? Try again? Hope again? Trust God, again?

I know that it’s hard. Trust me, I do. I’ve had more than enough moments of convincing myself that trying again is pointless. I’ve had many moments when I told myself that all of this is just too hard—too much for me to handle. However, whenever I crack open my Bible, I’m reminded that God never told us that this walk would be easy; He never told us that life itself would be easy. In fact, He reminds us in James 1 that trials will come; however, these trials bring maturity. Trials and hard seasons make us stronger and more resilient. They bring us to a place where the only thing we can do is turn to God.

God also told us that He disciplines the one He loves. (Hebrews 12:6) I had to understand that just because these past two years of my life have been hard, God is not punishing me, He is pruning me. Every trial that I walk through, every tear that I cry, every disappointment that I feel is for a reason. I might not understand the reason now, but I believe that when I exit this season, I will understand. (John 13:7)

So, yes, this season you’re walking through might be challenging- painful even. Yes, it might feel like God is pushing you into a place where you feel incredibly uncomfortable and uncertain, but I urge you to shift your perspective. God is not punishing you, He is preparing you, and me, for our destiny. I encourage you to get back up again. Get your fight back. Hope again. Trust God, again. Believe again. Remember, it takes a strong person to get back up again after a low point. It takes a strong person to believe again after deep discouragement. It takes a strong person to hope again after disappointment. Don’t allow your low moments to break you, but instead allow them to shape you into the person that God has called you to be. You are strong! You will make it! He who began the good work in you will bring it to completion.

Let's resolve to hope, again.