A few weeks ago I saw two of my closest friends leave Iceland within 24 hours of each other. Both are leaving to pursue love and new adventures in other lands, and are at the beginning of exciting new seasons in their lives. I also have said goodbye to other dear friends recently, some hopefully just for a season. As I said goodbye to Tyler at the airport, the second to leave, I sat down and stared at my coffee cup. It was a strange moment, like a sudden and unwelcomely abrupt end to a season that was still in full swing. It was like a movie which ends unexpectedly with so much unresolved, like a needle suddenly being lifted off a record which you had just got in the groove to and were quite happy listening to.
Sometimes staying is harder than leaving. Not that I desire to leave Iceland, but just that when you leave you normally leave with some kind of plan, some kind of adventure, and when you stay, life just carries on, except you are without the friends who just left.
I stayed contemplating with my coffee cup for another 20 minutes. Thinking of all the goodbyes I had said in this very spot over the past few months, and all the emotions I had gone through of 7 years of arriving and departing from this place.
I thought of all my memories of Iceland, of all the new friendships that have been formed here, of all the laughter, tears, road trips, significant encounters with God. How much has changed in my life in this land in just over a year. It then struck me, that in times of uncertainty or difficulty we often look back to past memories and assume the best has already been. We look back fondly at the ‘good old days’ and the photographs, and start to wonder if that is it, especially when we can’t see what is ahead. Now, there’s nothing wrong with memories and remembering good times. But I guarantee that before the good times there were other difficult times. Another time when you wondered if there would be good times ahead. And probably the latest good memories are more enjoyable than the old memories, because over time memories build like layers. So I started to think about the good times ahead, the friendships, fun, laughter, God encounters that I was yet to walk into. That I would one day be looking back fondly at memories of things that haven’t happened yet. And that maybe those future memories would be even better than the ones already in the past.
When we walk through hard and lonely times, it’s important to remember God has a much wider perspective than we do. I can easily be affected by the emotion of how I feel on a particular day, and let that dictate my perspective on the rest of my life. God has an aerial view and an see all the valleys and mountains where as we see the perspective from the ground.
Through a lot of the Old Testament, God was constantly reminding Israel how he had led them out of Egypt, how he performed miracles and brought them into the promised land. The reason was, that God is consistent to act on behalf of his people, and as he had been faithful in the past, so he would do so again.
So here’s some things I’m learning through the hard times:
1) Be thankful for the friends and people in your life, whether absent or present. God has put specific people in our lives for specific reasons, some for a season and some for life. Just has God has provided in the past, he will continue to do so because his character is consistent and his name is faithful.
2) Keep a journal regularly. I have journals going back years, and if I want to be reminded of God’s goodness I just go back and remind myself of all the things the Lord has done for me, and it reminds me that he will continue to be good to me because he loves me so perfectly.
3) Remind yourself of the promises God has given you. Think of the prayers already answered and promises already fulfilled, meditate on them, whether specific verses of scripture or prophetic words you have been given. Claim them and ask God to fulfil those words!
4) Praise God, even when its the last thing you feel like doing. Sometimes I have had the most amazing times of worship when I have felt heavy and despairing, and praise has taken everything I have but has changed the atmosphere around me and expanded my faith.
5) Ask God about the people around you, who are the key people right now, brothers, sisters, fathers, mothers in the faith. It could be your natural family or your friends. Who are the people who can keep you connected to your destiny and can urge you to press into seek God during the hard times, who can speak life over you and remind you of your true identity? Seek these people out and be intentional about connecting with them and praying with them!
6) Rest in God. You cannot earn God’s favour by striving or hard work. You are already a son and daughter of the King and nothing can add or take away from that. You already have everything you need in Him, he has gone ahead and provided for this season. Sometimes I strive for a breakthrough and this means I miss what is in fact a gift. Make sure you get plenty of physical rest and have a lifestyle which is not based around endless activity, even if this means giving some things up. You will get far more achieved by resting in God than running around in your own strength. I don’t always understand how this principle works, but trust me, it does! Bill Johnson said ‘When I am resting in the presence of God I get far more done by accident than I used to get done on purpose’
Anyway, just some thoughts…hope this helps anyone going through a hard season of their life!
