Last week was a bad week.
I guess it was time for one. My life has been sailing along swimmingly for the past few months. Except of course for the day I nearly had to swim through my laundry room because of a minor flood. Apart from that, things had been going well.
But last week was hard.
I didn’t lose my job; the cancer is not back; my house didn’t burn down; no one died. Looking back on it, could the week really have been that bad?
But it was.
My dog was sick, and though I thought she might be dying, it turns out that she has one of the grossest, easiest to fix ailments a dog can have. She has infected anal glands. I know. Gross. In the meantime, I spent the week wiping up spots off the carpet. And one time, I actually had to quote Bible verses to myself to keep from crying.
A possible relationship ended before it really ever got started. I wasn’t in love or anything; I barely know this man. But I had hope for a couple of weeks, and when things didn’t go anywhere, I lost hope again. I did cry a few times over that one.
I got a really big water bill, even though the leak was fixed and I already paid $380 last month. I spent two and a half hours in a meeting for work that I thought should have taken 15 minutes. I also thought I had addressed the entire issue in an email two months ago. My best efforts to teach Bible study were overshadowed by a minor point that was miscommunicated and misunderstood. And I was so busy I couldn’t get to bed, or get up, on time. I spent the week running.
A few times during the week, I felt like I couldn’t do it. The hundred little things that make up a day seemed too hard. But when I actually said those words out loud to myself, “I can’t do this,” I heard back, “Yes, you can. You can do all things through Christ who strengthens you.”
I’ve thought of that verse in the past when I was doing really big, hard things, like going through chemotherapy or serving in a ministry. But I had never applied it much to ordinary things.
“I can clean up dog messes through Christ who strengthens me.”
“I can sit through long meetings at work with patience and kindness through Christ who strengthens me.”
“I can call the phone company and straighten out my bill through Christ who strengthens me.”
I can do ALL things, even the things that suck the life out of me, through Christ.
What are you facing this week — however mundane or ordinary — that you need to do through Christ?
Charity,
We had a cat once with a similar “issue.” I feel your pain. 🙁
Thank you for voicing this hopeful refrain for me today.
I can lie in my sick bed and let others cook for my family through Christ, who strengthens me. I can undergo another surgery and another set back to my recovery because Christ strengthens me.
I can feel like the weakest link in the chain because it means that it is Christ is who is holding me together, not me.
I’m sorry to hear you had a no good, very bad week though.
Thank you for being so open and sharing this. I’m sorry you had a rough week but it was so encouraging to read how you handled it. It’s the little trials that slowly and sneakily steal our joy. Praying for you, friend!
“In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith-of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire-may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.” -1 Peter 1:6-7
All I can say…well, I’ll let the His words say it…
Philippians 4:6
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
Blessings,
Jay