"When It Don't Come Easy"

Have you ever had one of those weeks that everything seems to explode in your hands? Does it feel like you have had a week of Mondays? That's what it's been like this week for me.

Little things have gnawed at me. I haven't done well enough at work this week to say that money is being made. I have missed quiet times this week. I've been lax about getting things done around my house. My relationships have suffered this week because I've been to wound up in myself.

I got a phone call this week that really sent me into a tailspin. It made me question who I am personally and professionally. In addition to the phone call, I've had a rough time at one of the schools where I teach. I am concerned about both items, because my thoughts and emotions were not grounded in the Word. Ephesians 4:32 was not part of my thought process with either incident.

How do I get through these lapses in relationship? How do I refocus? First, I heard a song on my iPod this morning that really struck home. It's by Patty Griffin. It's called, "When It Don't Come Easy." The chorus reminded me of who God is and that he's always there. The chorus says:

But if you break down,

I'll try to find you,

If you forget my love,

I'll try to remind you,

I'll stay by you,

When it don't come easy

Sometimes I see things crumbling and forget that God is there in the midst of the circumstance, whether good or bad. Even in all of the swirling disappointments and depression this week, the reminder this morning that he'll stand by me when it's not easy uplifted me. Biblically, here's the best reminder:

God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. Selah

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells. God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day.

Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall; he lifts his voice, the earth melts. The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah

Come and see the works of the LORD, the desolations he has brought on the earth. He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth; he breaks the bow and shatters the spear, he burns the shields with fire.

"Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth." The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah