When Life Gets Hard

-- The Rev. Coleen Lynch

Easter and Spring resound with sights and sounds of bursting joy and enthusiasm. But what if you don’t feel that way? What if everyone around you is all excited about new seasons, new fashions, new relationships, new jobs, new beginnings of all kinds and you just feel lousy and stuck? Fear not.

Help and hope have arrived in the person of Jesus Christ. Before you stop reading this because you think this might be another bible-thumping, fist waving attempt to get you into or back into church, relax.

Two guys were walking along a road and depressed out of their minds because their best friend had just died. A stranger comes up behind them and joins them in conversation. He wants to know what they’re talking about. They tell him. Then he tells them all about a book he’s familiar with that predicted this would happen. He also reminds them that the story has a happy ending. They like his company and when it looks like he’s moving on, they ask him to join them for the night. He does. They’re having supper when the new guy takes the loaf of bread and breaks it. Suddenly life changes forever. They recognize who he is. He disappears. But they’re so excited they run back several miles to tell their friends that their best friend is actually alive.

When we feel sad, depressed, hopeless, tired, frustrated and down right out of sorts, along comes someone or some thing that almost seems to magically lift us from our pain. This is the experience of the Risen Lord in our lives. God is not about to abandon us just because we don’t feel well or worthy. God comes to us every moment of our lives, whether we’re happy or sad. In the person of Jesus Christ we have that friend we have always wanted – someone who will stand by us and still love us no matter what. If you’re unhappy about your life or yourself, talk to the Risen Lord. How? Just have a chat in the privacy of your heart. Go for a walk, take a bath, drive out in the country. Take a few moments and be still. Let Jesus know what’s on your mind. Ask for help, he gives it. Pay attention to your life. Notice the people and events that are happening around you. The Lord uses all of these to give you support, guidance and courage for the struggles you are facing.

By the way, the Bible version of the story is in Luke 24: 13-35, the disciples on the road to Emmaus. There are other great stories in the Bible that relate to your real life and mine. Give them a try. Read them, enjoy them, learn from them, even remember some of them. Soon we too will be joining “the guys” and saying “Were not our hearts burning within us, while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?” (Luke 24:32)

God bless you.