This is just a quick blog post inspired by today’s verse on the YouVersion Bible app. Aren’t we so blessed in our generation, in the western world, to have so much access to His word through many mediums? I hope I don’t waste that opportunity.
Anyway, that’s another thought for another time! Today’s verse:
A couple of weeks ago Rich and I were hit with a nasty stomach bug. The kind that brings no warning and knocks you out for a good 24 hours. The onset for me happened sooner than Rich and I started to feel a little queasy early on in the day. I managed to ignore it until the afternoon, when suddenly my food decided to make an unwelcome reappearance. I HATE being sick, now I don’t think I’ve met anyone that particularly enjoys vomiting, but I know it can bring a sense of relief afterwards, yet still, I HATE throwing up! It fills me with dread as it takes over my whole body and makes me uncontrollably eject the contents of my stomach everywhere! Nice!
Not only was I throwing up but I was also at home looking after our adorable, then 7 month old, whilst Rich was at work. She had just discovered how to use rolling as a form of transport and was happily exploring the entirety of our living room in this way. We’d just handed back the borrowed “bouncy” chair the day before, which Rich and I had lovingly named the third parent for the times when we just needed a moment. Oh the glorious “bouncy” chair! Sienna is a little like Tigger – she loves to bounce, and often if I needed to do something quickly I could pop her in there and run and do it, knowing she wasn’t going to fall or roll into anything.
So here I am, no “bouncy” chair, my “roly poly” baby and on the verge of projectile vomiting any moment. I have to admit that when I’m physically sick, I am a little pathetic, just a little. Rich has often found me lying on the bathroom floor in times of sickness, feeling sorry for myself, groaning, “I can’t move.” This time I didn’t have that “luxury”, in between running off (more like bent over wobbling) to be sick and then cleaning myself up, I had to make sure that Sienna hadn’t rolled over to the TV and attempted to rewire everything!
Lying there on the floor next to her, whilst she smiled obliviously and banged together her building blocks, I felt pretty weak and sorry for myself. I did somehow manage to make her a bottle and feed her in between episodes, I guess it’s because I didn’t have a choice. Now that I’m a mother I don’t have the opportunity to not turn up to “work” because I’m not feeling great, and even though all I could muster was lying next to her until the next wave of sickness came, it never crossed my mind that there may be a get-out clause. I just had keep to going, even if momentarily that was just “showing up”, being present, and doing the basics because that’s all I could give.
Reading this verse today, reminded me again that we have to fight for our faith. It’s arguably one of the most important things we possess. Why is it then, that when I have moments of weakness or I feel overwhelmed I can too easily give up? Why is there a get-out clause or an option to “tap out”? Sometimes if all I can muster in the fight, is lying on the floor and just being present, then it’s still important to show up. There’s far too much at stake to bow out.
I want to encourage you also, if all you have within you today is enough to just show up, go ahead and do it anyway, because just like our stomach bug only lasted for 24 hours, “..weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning…” (Psalm 30 v 5). Your “night” season might feel like it’s forever enduring, but when we understand that it’s a fight we’re in, we can accept that there will be battles to face. Battles can bring wounds and weariness, but I take hope in the fact that I am on the winning side. Jesus tells his disciples and also us, “…I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world..” John 16 v 33. Our faith fight is won by placing our faith in Him. In Him we find peace and strength to fight another day.
Faith Diaries 
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