Last week we noodled the importance of bringing more love into this world in order to combat the dark forces of evil. I was still kvelling (rejoicing) in the warmth of love still aglow from our granddaughter’s visit and thanking God for all the blessings He made possible.

Yet I know there are times when we’re just not feelin’ it, especially when so much seems to be going wrong, personally or societally. To some my life sounds euphoric while theirs feels more like Job’s! Trust me I have had and probably will have again my share of tsuris (troubles)!

Sometimes joy in the Lord seems made for others, not for us. Yet we all experience seasons of joy and sorrow and everything in between. They just have different lengths and intensity, for all of us. So how can we possibly feel okay, let alone joyous during the really hard times?

The provocations may change – sickness, pain, unemployment, rejection, war, world hunger, loss. What also may change very imperceptibly unless we are aware of this challenge is our ability to frame our perspective with positivity, with knowledge that despite how it looks, God’s got this. He has not only our backs but the world’s as well even if we can’t see those truths at the time. Feelings of hopelessness can creep into our worldview. When we don’t notice this shift consciously and with proper defenses in place, maintaining our faith can be difficult.

When that happens, when how we frame life’s experiences is weakened, we become unable to see God’s Presence, the blessings in the sorrow, and slowly our faith erodes which increases our negativity. It is only through faith in God that we can live hopeful lives despite the darkness and it is only through keeping our perspective, the framing of our days strong in Him,  that we can have faith.

When life is akilter we often find it the hardest time to think of God’s Presence for we naturally think if He were here these hardships wouldn’t be happening, right? It’s actually quite the opposite for when we are suffering, God is actually in it even deeper than we are. Who better than Yeshua can know the pain of suffering and how to survive, even the earthly feel of it??!! He is in it with us, co-suffering and helping us thrive not just survive even though it may not feel like it at the time. We have to maintain our belief in that truest of truths.

So how do we do this when it seems He’s not with us in our suffering?

It is precisely in those moments, our times of weakness, that we need that reminder, for often we can’t see this truth ourselves when we are just not feelin’ it. Our ability to believe He’s with us during challenging times often needs three life giving tools – the bolstering of support by others, prayer/personal conversation with God even when we may not feel like it, and daily Scripture reading which often miraculously provides exactly the encouragement we can’t pull from within ourselves during days of suffering.

To the contrary, when we disconnect from that spiritual network of support, our suffering becomes all the more intense. Although God is with us, we on our end lose our ability to connect to its much needed power and strength.

These are days of intense hardship societally and for some of us, personally as well, so daily practice of our faith building tools is essential. If we with intention build these abilities when not needed we can be better prepared for when they are.

If you can accept the fact of our Creator’s reality on faith, and sometimes that’s what it takes when what we are experiencing seems to the contrary, He will show up even more obviously. Believing that is hard but necessary. For the devil ain’t lazy. He knows our weakness, our vulnerability, and our inability at times to believe that God cares about us at all. When we allow ourselves to go to those dark thoughts, the evil one feels our fear, our feelings of worthlessness, hopelessness, and thrives on our insecurities to make our frame, our perspective which is molded by our hearts, minds, and souls, to become askew, weak, if not destroyed.

The evil one likes suffering. Worry and fear are his tools of bullying. The chaos framing our days at those times must give him great joy! Yet we’re only human and often the more overwhelming the darkness, the harder it is to love and trust in God.

When the evil one can’t get us when we’re down, he also lurks to prevent our efforts to advance God’s Kingdom here on earth. We’ve always asked for extra prayer before Camp Or L’Dor for inevitably one or more of our leaders gets injured or ill. I’ve battled inexplicable computer issues (especially today!) before sending these encouragements. The examples of spiritual warfare are endless. So to prepare is essential in order not to fall victim to such bullying by a hopeless, truly helpless opponent.

Although we don’t like it, hardship actually helps to strengthen us for the harder days that lie ahead that are inevitable. We learn how to prepare and to not be blindsided. As the best father ever our Abba pulls us through and as our faith is tested He works on His end to remind us to stay strong in our faith for the challenges to come, the result of mankind’s poor choices. We are reminded that we are not in control. Only our Creator will be able to take the many missteps of mankind and create order from chaos. Of that truth we can be sure.

The examples of these truths may change but the tools to stay strong in our faith stay constant and need to be ever present in our minds and hearts. These are the days for Community, Constant prayer/conversation, and Consistent Scripture study to keep our perspective, the frame of our days, gloriously straight in Him. Personally, I’m going to work daily on my three Cs just as a child with her ABCs, continuing my journey to come to Him with the purest of heart.

Shabbat shalom.

Diane