None of us are exempt from hardship.
No matter what your zip code is, you are going to feel pain sometime in your life. Regardless of your skin color or how rich or poor you are, you are going to have struggles.
All of us have felt so much weight on our hearts that it's been hard to sleep. It's not easy to find peace for long, and it's difficult when we give our best and only receive stress in return. The weight of worries often seems overwhelming, and it might seem as though no one is there to help us out of our struggles.
People will tell you to stay strong. People will tell you that it gets better, and while I'll be the first to say that those things are true, I also understand how hard it can be to push onward failure after failure, loss after loss. We might look up at the sky and ask, "Why me, Lord?" We might ask, "How much more suffering until I find some peace?"
I'm here to tell you that peace will come. In your suffering, you are going to find so much strength. When I say the word strength, I mean it differently than most people do. Often, strength is going to feel like pain. Strength is going to feel like loss and setback. Strength is going to feel like depression at first, because life isn't all smooth sailing. Life might be a river, but it's not a peaceful one. The river of life is full of tides and currents. The river of life is going to test your will and it's going to make you feel as if you're too tired to paddle another inch.
You've got to keep going.
I know that you're weary. I know that your prayers have gotten fainter, but you have got to hold on to your faith. Please find the strength in God and give your burdens to Him. Let God carry you through, because you can't make it through alone, and that's okay.
There's no testimony without a test, and you need these tough experiences to become the person the world needs you to be. Don't throw in the towel. Don't let the pain win. Tomorrow is a new day, and I want you to go out there and wipe off your weariness. Wipe off your stresses and your sorrows and remember that the new day is full of possibility. You might be in the middle of a storm right now, but once you make it through, I promise you that you'll be stronger than ever before. Be grateful for your hardships. Use your pain to become the person you need to be.
It all starts with you.
