When
consciousness hit me this morning, I wanted to stay in bed. All day if I could.
I am not one to openly tell
my trials and troubles to the world, but I believe personal details are not entirely
necessary when we choose to share a significant growth experience. As stated
initially, when I awoke this morning, the last thing I wanted to do was face
the day.
I am aware that feelings of
reluctance, unhappiness, despair, and so forth are not unique to me—every human
being comes face to face with the draining effects of discouragement, fear,
uncertainty, pain, depression… need I go on? Life hands us big and small problems
on a continual basis. We all face trials, hardships, disappointments—these are
roadblocks common in life. Some trials are grievous to bear. The rest are hard in
other ways. Any of them can make us want to stay in bed all day.
This morning, staring at the
ceiling while feeling defeated by a handful of trials that amounted to my
present roadblocks, I spoke to God in prayer. For a few quiet minutes, I shared
my feelings with Him. During that prayer, I made the half-sarcastic comment
that if this one particular, small, unlikely thing happened, I would put both
feet on the floor and face the day gladly. Not that I honestly planned to
remain in bed; I usually manage to slip over the mattress’ edge and move
forward from there. And no, I did not expect to get what I wanted simply because
I asked. As I said, my request was for something unlikely, even next to
impossible. I was not anticipating a miracle. I just wanted one—a small,
personal blessing to cheer me up.
Now here is the crazy, beautiful
part: Only a few minutes after mumbling “Amen” at the end of my prayer, that
one, particular, small, unlikely thing did happen! As near impossible as I
thought it to be, it actually happened! So yes, I got my sorry self out of bed.
And yes, I thanked God for the tender mercy that buoyed me up enough to face a
hard day.
If you are struggling with personal roadblocks, I recommend praying about it. God really is a god of miracles. He has solutions we never dream of. Often, you will not get an immediate response to prayer. It has taken a good amount of time for me to receive answers to my own. But my experience has been that they do come, eventually. Every now and then they are instant and miraculous. Those I refer to as tender mercies.
—Richelle E. Goodrich, Hope Evermore copyright 2023
