When The Going Gets Tough…
I’m sure most people read the title of this brief article and finished with “the tough get going.” That’s what we as Americans do, right? We “pick ourselves up by our own bootstraps.” We forge new frontiers and rely on our own strength.
Thankfully, I’m not considering this through eyes exclusive to Americans. (Sidenote: I love being an American but that is not the focus of this post.) I want to end the titular quote with some other suggestions:
- When the going gets tough … pray. Ephesians 3:14-16 reads, “For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being …”
- When the going gets tough … encourage fellow Christians. Each of us has burdens, but when we help each other carry them, the load is lightened for all. “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2)
- When the going gets tough … rest in the Lord’s strength. 1 Peter 5:10 tells us, “And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.” I don’t have to carry all the weight on my own.
If you are in a season of tough times, stop looking to yourself for strength. Consider the words of Psalm 121 and look in a better place for a better source of strength:
I lift up my eyes to the hills.
From where does my help come?
My help comes from the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.
He will not let your foot be moved;
he who keeps you will not slumber.
Behold, he who keeps Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.
The Lord is your keeper;
the Lord is your shade on your right hand.
The sun shall not strike you by day,
nor the moon by night.
The Lord will keep you from all evil;
he will keep your life.
The Lord will keep
your going out and your coming in
from this time forth and forevermore.
AUTHOR: Amber Tatum
