Stay Strong

“You have a choice to make. You can either grow stronger or weaker in your faith – you can live out what you’ve been telling people about or be mad at God. Everyone will see if your faith is real as you walk through this valley.”

These words have been some of the most impactful words that have ever been spoken to me because it made me realize that it’s easy to talk to talk and encourage others, yet it’s much harder to live it out when the battles come at you. Those words came from my dad at the beginning of what would turn out to be a pretty crazy medical situation for me. I was mad at the beginning when I first went into the ER and was told I couldn’t lift anything above 10 lbs for a couple months – little did I know how intense it was about to get and that it was only the beginning.

I honestly thought that would be one of the hardest things I’d walk through and then a couple years later I lost my best friend in a car accident. The words that were spoken by my dad came back in an instant. I felt like I had been hit by a train and yet I knew that once again I had a choice to make. It sounds so easy when it’s said and yet when it comes to actually making the choice, it’s not easy. If I’m being honest I was mad at God (which I didn’t realize/didn’t admit at first). You can still grow in your faith when you’re mad at Him though. In fact, finally admitting to Him in prayer that I was mad at Him helped my faith grow. Overall my grief is better than it was a year ago and my faith is stronger than it was before.

I think that’s why the lyrics from Danny Gokey’s song, Stay Strong, resonate with me so much.

“My hope might be shaken but my faith will never break because I know the day is coming when You’ll right all of the wrong.

So I’ll praise You in the waiting and my faith will stay strong… So I’m not gonna doubt it, I’m gonna hold onto peace, ‘cause if I have You and nothing else, I still have everything.”

In both the mountains and the valleys we need to keep our focus on God because He can and will use our story for good, even when it seems impossible, as long as we stay strong on our foundation and keep the faith.

You have a choice to make, which will you choose?