How To Get Through The Hard Days

Isn’t one of the sweetest gifts in life the gift of having friends? 

I have always said that from a young age, it seems that God has always blessed me with great friends. One of my dear, sweet friends comes to mind today as I sit down once again to share this blog with you. Out of her many characteristics that I admire, maybe the one that makes me smile the most is when I answer my phone, and hear her talk.

She has one of those great Southern accents that just makes you want to take a deep breath, and get a glass of sweet tea! I mean it is really great, and in that sweet Southern drawl of hers she has the coolest way of making everything into its own verb! 

For example, I’ll call her and say, “Hey! What are you doing right now?” And she’ll reply, “Hey girl! Just bill-pay-in”, or “insta-scrollin.” It makes me laugh, and yet somehow it makes total sense when she says it! Last month she called me, and said her usual line, “Hey friend! Whatcha’ doing?” Before I knew it, I blurted out, “Hey girl! Just bloggin’!”  You really are who you hang out with! I just needed her extra twang. 

Well this month’s ‘bloggin’ has a specific mission, and that is to help you to understand how to make it through the hard days. What do you do when you hit a particularly hard day? Nobody wants the hard days to come, but the truth is, we have all experienced them. One thing I can tell you right up front before we get to the good stuff is this: 

You have to contend to push through the hard day so you can get to the good day. And yes—the good day is truly always waiting just on the other side! 

But when you are in the middle of a hard day, we tend to ask the question, “Why?” Why is this day so tough? Why am I feeling like this? Why is today such a struggle? Here is what most people don’t know: the best question to ask yourself on a hard day isn’t why, but what?

What you really need to know is not why you’re having a hard day, but what it is that you need to be empowered to shift that day, and get on top of it. And I’m talking about more than a venti latte with an extra shot of espresso! 

When you hit a hard day, and it’s pushing you back more than you are successfully pushing through, ask yourself, “What do I need in order overcome?” And the answer is to be fed.

Take a look at what this says: “But faith finds its voice in something much closer to a person than their most disciplined effort. Faith understands that Christ is no longer a distant promise, neither is He reduced to a mere historic hero. He is mankind’s righteousness now! Your own words echo God’s voice. The unveiling of the masterful act of Jesus forms the words in your mouth, inspired by the conviction in your heart.” (Romans 10:6-9)

What you need is your faith, those convictions you already have in your heart, to be fed a faith-filled message from the Word of God. Jesus is His Word, and in Him we live, and move, and have our being. When we feed our faith, we rise! 

I don’t need to listen to just anything. I need to hear faith emboldening preaching and teaching that will remind my mentality that I live out of a supply from heaven that can’t be externally sourced. When your supply is low, fill up your supply. 

Remember that we live out of what we cannot see, feel, or touch, but it is real joy, real peace, and it is real life! 

Good days are easier to come by when you start out full. 

Here are the three main things that I have learned fill me up:

1. Listening to faith-filled preaching, and reading the Bible personally.
2. Praying in the spirit.
3. Acknowledging the omni-presence of Jesus repeatedly, throughout my day, out-loud.

And as a back up, I have people in my life that will remind me of what I need to do when what is coming out of my mouth is on a lower level than the convictions of my heart, and what the word of God says is true. Like my sweet Southern friend, she will love me enough to remind me, “Girl! You need to get speakin’!” And I know she is right! 

“…Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” Matthew 12:34 

When faith is coming out of our mouth, we know what we are full of, and that makes all the difference! Remember that those hard days are worth pressing through. Don’t let them push you into sitting down. Good days, in fact great days, are on the other side! 

You are loved.