Good Lives Still Have Problems

I have a good life.

I am well aware that my problems are largely first-world problems. In the grand scheme of things, my life is easy, and I don't know pain like so much of the world is currently experiencing.

But still.

I find myself feeling on the edge of despair over certain circumstances from time to time. I hesitate to tell you all this because in light of everything that has been going on, my issues would seem petty. However, I listened to a sermon recently that hit home for me, and one of the points made was that we shouldn't belittle the pain.

We were asked to repeat a verse that "just so happened" to pop up in my devotions the very next day. That God. He's so sneaky like that.

The verse he asked us to repeat was, "Weeping may last for the night, but joy comes in the morning." I'm sure it has a larger than literal meaning, but I find that it literally tends to fit my life too. Those times when I feel the most burdened, the most wearied and hopeless, usually occur at night. Maybe it's just exhaustion at the end of the day, or maybe God shows mercy and refreshes me because I do feel better in the morning for the most part.

My problems, even though they may seem petty to some, can cause me pain. Within the same week that I heard this sermon, I read Psalm 31:7-8 during one of my devotions.

I will be glad and rejoice in your love,
for you saw my affliction 
and knew the anguish of my soul.
You have not handed me over to the enemy
but have set my feet in a spacious place.

He knows the anguish of my soul. Jesus was fully God and fully man, so he knows and understands human emotion and experiences.

I also came across the phrase "the valley is the place of vision," by Arthur Bennett in that devotion. This concept has stuck with me ever since. Sometimes the only way to learn what I need to know, or to see God work, is to be in the valley and let Him lead me out of it.

I don't know why I'm still so amazed when God teaches me one lesson from more than one resource at a time.

Also, it would be silly of me to think that any of my problems are as bad as they feel. I do tend to be a bit sensitive and need to remember that my emotions are the variable, not God. He is unchanging and should be my focus.

Anyway, it is not my intention to whine, but merely to share what I've been learning lately because I can't be the only one with all the feels.

In other news, we are tired of teething and allergies at our place. So. much. snot.