But God- Hope for the Hard Times

My car smells like french fries. My car smells like french fries and I’m averaging one home-cooked, sit-down dinner a week. My car smells like french fries, I’m managing one home-cooked, sit-down dinner a week, and I have mounds of clean laundry awaiting their proper destinations. My car smells like french fries, I’m averaging one home-cooked, sit-down dinner a week, I have mounds of laundry waiting to be put away, and my house is in desperate need of a deep cleaning. You get the picture, right? Some of you might be living this picture out in your own way. This is busy season for so many people. We’ve gotten back in the swing of school. Sports are going strong. Our kids are active and busy. I’m starting to feel like the balanced life lives somewhere in between Diagon Alley and Never Never Land.

A few weeks ago, I was praying on the way to school and praising God for getting me through the chaos of each day. I was reflecting on my family’s impossible schedule, my ever-growing to-do list, and my current pitiful existence of a quiet time with God. One word came to mind. It overwhelmed me. I was caught off guard by how perfectly this word pinpointed what I had been experiencing. SUSTAINER That was the word. I believe in that moment of prayer, the Holy Spirit placed that word in my mind to reveal to me how I was functioning through the chaos and to remind me where my strength comes from.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve thought about this word and about the power of the word. The King James Version Dictionary defines sustain: “To bear; to uphold; to support; to keep from falling; to maintain; to keep from falling.” I look back at what life has been like these past few months and I see the invisible, but ever present, hand of God. He absolutely has upheld me, supported me, kept me from falling, and maintained me. As I’ve reflected more on the word “sustainer,” I’ve found myself overjoyed by the fact that I’m His and He, The Sustainer, is mine. I’ve also felt conviction that I don’t give Him credit on a daily basis for being the one who upholds me.

Psalm 54:4 says, “God is my helper; the Lord is the sustainer of my life.”

It seems like helper and sustainer go hand in hand. When I think about making it through the insanely busy seasons of life, I know it’s certainly because God helps me. He gives me everything I need to navigate the hills and the valleys. He SUSTAINS me.

The Bible is full of people who experienced the sustaining power of God. Who comes to your mind? Is it Job? Abraham? Elijah? What about Ruth or Rahab? I thought of Joseph- Old Testament Joseph with all the jealous brothers. He was hated so much by his siblings that they sold him as a slave. Joseph not only survived slavery, he also survived:

• being wrongly accused of having an affair with a royal official’s wife,

• being thrown in prison for the above-mentioned accusation,

• being all alone with no family around,

• Seven years of famine,

• Facing the brothers who abandoned him years before.

My favorite part of Joseph’s story is towards the end in Genesis chapter 45. He’s been united with his brothers in a tear-filled reunion and he relieves them of their guilt by saying, “And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you. For two years now there has been famine in the land, and for the next five years, there will be no plowing and reaping. But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a tenant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance” (Genesis 45: 5-7). Under the direction and sustaining power of the Lord, Joseph gave advice to Pharoah and therefore saved much of the kingdom because of what the Lord revealed to him. God took what the brother meant for evil and He turned it into God.

I love the phrase “but God!” Those two words together are in The Bible (NIV) 60 times. There’s so much significance in those six letters. Joseph was sold by his own brothers into slavery, he was wrongly accused and thrown in jail. He was all alone… BUT GOD delivered him, sustained him, and fulfilled His calling.

My family is crazy busy right now, I’m navigating a new job, I can’t get enough sleep, and I’m hittin’ the Dr. Pepper like my life depends on it… BUT GOD sustains me. He reveals His goodness to me every day and affirms my calling as a wife, a mom, a principal, and a daughter of the King.

Some of you are floundering right now. You don’t know if you’re coming or going. You’re struggling to hear from God. Your days seem to be getting harder rather than easier. BUT GOD loves you beyond measure. He has created you for greatness in Him and He has a plan for you bigger and better than you could ever dream. Some of you are facing unimaginable challenges. You don’t know how you’ll get through the day. You’re grasping for answers. BUT GOD says He’ll never leave you or forsake you (Hebrews 13:5). His power is made perfect in your weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9). BUT GOD will sustain you.

Psalm 145:14 says, “The LORD helps some who fall; he raises up a few who are oppressed.” Nah, I”m just kiddin’! That’s not what it says. That verse actually says He helps ALL who fall and ALL who are oppressed. Is that you? Have you fallen? Are you going through hard times? Discover your BUT GOD phrase.

I actually began this blog post nearly two months ago but only got halfway through until and didn’t take the time to finish. A lot has changed in that time. Bryan cleaned my car out this week so it no longer smells like french fries. We haven’t eaten out every night this week. Our schedule is slowing down. My laundry is finally all caught up… said this mom never. The laundry that I get to do is washed and awaiting my attention. Maybe I’ll get to it tomorrow. But you get the picture. He has sustained me through the crazy, the hard, the exhausting, and everything in between. How would our perspective change if we spent each day looking for the BUT GOD experiences? I guarantee there are too many in your life to count.

“My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” Psalm 73:26