A few weeks ago, I watched my wife break down in tears. It was a heartbreaking moment. A financial hardship had hit our family, really hard, and we were unable to afford to send our son to summer camp this year. Although the camp had generously offered to provide him with a scholarship, the thought of using assistance again felt like a blow to me as a provider, and as a man, so we made the decision to de-enroll him. It hurt much deeper than either of us expected.
As a provider, I felt like a disappointment to my family. I felt like “What kind of husband and father can’t give his family this one thing?” Having been unemployed for about two months, the weight of that question pressed heavily on me. We’ve walked this road before, navigating seasons of unemployment, underemployment, or both. Funny enough, our son ended up perfectly content staying home to play video games and did not mind missing the camp at all. But not sending him to this camp still stung our emotions. The knowledge that the camp has provided a positive environment and has really helped him grow and define his walk with the Lord, with really good role models there.
In moments like this, it is very natural to ask, “Where is God?” It is similarly common to wonder when God will finally fulfill the Scripture in Joel 2:25 to “redeem the years the locusts have eaten away.”
In moments like this, it is very natural to ask, ‘Where is God?’ It is similarly common to wonder when God will finally fulfill the Scripture in Joel 2:25 to ‘redeem the years the locusts have eaten away.‘
Why do I, and other much smarter people than myself, continue to pursue God through constant setbacks? Because there is assurance in God. There is confidence that remaining faithful to God and His promises will bring long-term prosperity. Scripture consistently backs this up. Proverbs 3:1–4 says to keep His commands in our hearts to find “peace and prosperity” and win favor in the sight of God. Similarly, Joshua 1:8 promises that meditating on His word and walking in obedience will ensure we are “prosperous and successful.”
Because Christ has fulfilled the Law, we have the victory over every earthly battle. We know that as we strive to follow Jesus and live for Him, we can claim the promise of success and prosperity in a contemporary, New Testament sense. We are rooted in His abundance, peace, and favor.
The song “The Hardest Part” by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers sang, “The waiting is the hardest part.” Isn’t that the truth! The waiting is always the “hardest” part. Doing what is right, and that is following Jesus, often makes you a target for ridicule from those who twist Scripture or mock your faith. When these moments occur, we have to keep waiting on God to do something big. It reminds me of Rusty, the little neighborhood kid on the tricycle in Pixar’s The Incredibles. Sitting outside, watching and waiting, he tells Mr. Incredible he is looking for “…something amazing, I guess.” Like Rusty, we should live in expectation, waiting for God to do something incredible in our lives. And He will!
Living this way requires a shift in perspective. Jesus calls us to take up our cross and follow Him. As my pastor recently pointed out, in the Roman era, in the original context, what Jesus said to carry our own cross meant walking toward certain death. Christ is asking us to crucify our own will, pride, and comfort to death and follow Him. Follow Him into uncertainty, into the great wide open. To follow is to not take your path but His path. This is challenging, but we are encouraged in Scripture that when we surrender to Him, “He will give you the desires of your heart,” as Psalm 37:4 says.
Instead of succumbing to defeat, worry, or shame when life gets heavy, we are called to praise Him and to surrender more deeply to Him and His will for life. I will be the first to admit that this perspective is not always easy for me, and I don’t always operate on this level; but I am actively striving to make praise my natural response to hardship – instead of cussing. I have found in the past that when I chose to praise Him, instead of complaining or cussing, the outcome was desirable and better than I could have imagined. And on a very positive note, since our son’s missed summer camp opportunity, things financially really opened up for us and God is moving in proactive ways! I think, when reflecting on this past experience, He just needed me to acknowledge that He is bigger than any storm, like personal finances.
Ultimately, as I sit here and wrestle with past financial shortfalls and my son’s missed camp trip, families in Venezuela are still endlessly digging through rubble. I am told that entire buildings were decimated there and they are still recovering from the tragedy of the earthquake that took so many lives and disrupted countless others.
My grievances pale in comparison to the grief felt in Latin America. Although I still am unemployed, I am reminded that God is the redeemer of all things, great and small—from massive tragedies like the one in Venezuela to the much, much smaller trials in our mostly pleasant lives here in the United States. In all things, we can trust in Jesus to resolve and restore any loss. But in these times, “the waiting is the hardest part.”
