I wish life came with its own remote control. So often in the past weeks and months, my heart has longed to “go back”. Go back to a time when life felt safe and full of hope and promise. Maybe you can relate. When life hurts, we often look back with nostalgia to easier times. We want to put our lives on rewind and revisit the time before:

• A national crisis
• A global pandemic
• A natural disaster
• A personal tragedy

Knowing I can’t go back, I find myself pleading with God to at least let me fast forward through times of painful struggle. I want to move ahead to a happier time, an easier time, a time when I will have weathered the storm and have come out stronger.

The writer of the book of Ecclesiastes reminds us there are seasons to life:

There is a time for everything,
     and a season for every activity under the heavens: (Ecclesiastes 3:1 NIV)

Written in poetic form, the following seven verses of this chapter reflect the contrasting nature of life’s experiences ~ good and bad, happy and sad. Although I love the entire passage, recently these specific verses have resonated with me: 

a time to be born and a time to die,
    a time to plant and a time to uproot, (Ecclesiastes 3:2 NIV)

a time to weep, and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn, and a time to dance, (Ecclesiastes 3:4 NIV)

Later in the book of Ecclesiastes, the author reminds us:

When times are good, be happy;
     but when times are bad, consider this:

God has made the one
     as well as the other.

Therefore, no one can discover
     anything about their future. (Ecclesiastes 7:14 NIV)

I don’t like to consider how God, our loving Father, allows both good and bad times in our lives. Yet I know it’s true. Jesus taught us:

“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.” (Matthew 7:24-47 NIV)

We will experience storms in life. Our ability to weather them depends on how well we build our lives on Jesus and His teachings. The apostle Paul put it this way:

We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about the troubles we experienced in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. (2 Corinthians 1:8-9 NIV)

Paul’s words contradict the popular (yet unbiblical) idiom: God won’t give you more than you can handle. In his missionary work, Paul and his companions experienced such extreme hardship they struggled to the point of despair. Although we don’t know the exact nature of these troubles, we know they faced the threat of death. But through this they learned to lean on God whose powerful strength can raise the dead. 

Although I can’t say I have ever received the sentence of death, I do know what it is like to feel pain beyond my ability to endure. In these times, I have learned to rely on God. In my darkest moments He walks with me. I picture Him rocking me to sleep, like a child in her father’s arms. I feel His comforting presence in the hugs and tears of friends and family. With His strength I can bear even unbearable pain.

So, much as I would like to fast forward through these times, I know it is best I can’t. Otherwise, I would miss the tender moments where Christ continues to strengthen my foundation in Him. 

I don’t know where you are in your journey. But because we are humans living in a fallen world, I’m sure you also have experienced disappointment, loss, and heartbreak. Undoubtedly, we will face trying times again in the future. Whatever comes, I pray we can all stay grounded and find strength in the One who raises the dead.