It's been a very interesting and trying week at my house this past week. We, as a family, encountered some difficult trials and struggles. Things are settling down now and getting back to normal. Thank the Lord!
In the midst of it all, I tried to keep telling myself to keep it all in perspective. Our struggles through the past week pale in comparison to some of the struggles other families deal with. A good friend of ours, who has been struggling with cancer the the past two years, had an appointment last Thursday to find out if the cancer has come back (Please pray for Scott and his family). When I think about the struggles that Scott, his wife, and his four children are going through right now, it makes my struggles over the past week seem selfish. We know other families who are also struggling with illness, unemployment, and other major issues. When I think about these struggles that other families are having I think: "Why am I letting such a minor struggle get to me so much?" Yet I did. I went from one extreme to the other. I went to a sense of calmness and thinking it's not such a big deal to anger and stress.
I heard, on our local Catholic radio station last week, the DJ say something that gave me pause in light of my struggles. He said that oftentimes we feel that we are out on a limb, and during those times we feel that we keep getting pushed to the edge of that limb, where the branch is smaller and weaker. It's scary to face the prospect of falling out of the tree when we are so close to the end of the limb. However, that is where the fruit is. And, if we do fall off, God will be there to catch us.
Our struggles, no matter how minor or how great, are like approaching the end of that limb. And when we get there, we will find fruit. There is fruit to bear in our struggles. We just have to trust God and go as close to the edge of the limb that He asks us to. We have to trust that He will catch us if we do fall. As the Psalm says, "But you, Lord, are a shield around me; my glory, you keep my head high" (Psalm 3:4).
Instead of fighting those struggles we face, we need to embrace them, and allow God to work through them, allow Him to keep our heads high. Instead of getting angry with God, we need to reach out to Him. He will guide us only if we allow Him to.
"Whenever I cried out to the Lord, I was answered from the holy mountain." (Psalm 3:5)