We Can Do Hard Things

We can do hard things.

My seven year old daughter attends a small, close-knit private elementary school. Truly, the students, teachers, parents and administrators are like one big family. When one member of the “family” hurts, we all hurt.

A couple of weeks ago, a member of the “family” was killed in a car accident. Her son has been in my daughter’s class since Kindergarten and they’ve become quite good friends. They started second grade together just a few days ago. Not only was Megan a wife and mother, she was ever present at the school and very involved in the community. She loved Jesus and that was clear by the way she loved on others. She had a motto that she used to encourage herself and others: We can do hard things. As our entire community has been grieving the loss of Megan, we’ve all thought a lot about these words. We’ve clung to them and we’ve repeated them many times over. I know I have.

She was so very right. We can do hard things. In fact, we must do hard things to experience our full Joy in the Lord and thus have the strength to do more hard things. I’m sure you’ve heard sayings like “you can’t have a rainbow without the rain” or “it’s always darkest before dawn.” There’s some truth to these in a biblical sense. We cannot experience and appreciate the fullness of the Joy of the Lord until we have endured hard things. It’s persevering and fixing our eyes on Jesus that leads to true Joy. Ignoring negative circumstances or emotions hinders the healing process that leads to Joy. We have to face those experiences and emotions head on. We have to allow ourselves to feel the anger, the hurt, the sadness. Otherwise, what are we overcoming? Through what are we persevering? How will we understand and feel the Joy of the Lord without allowing ourselves to do the hard things?

Psalm 30:5 says “weeping may endure for the night but joy comes in the morning.” To me, this means the weeping will happen. We should weep and we should grieve. We should allow those hard feelings to be felt because once they are felt fully we are promised that our sorrow will be turned to Joy. Take a look at Psalm 22. David expresses such sadness, despair, and hopelessness. Clearly, David was experiencing all the hard things. He was doing the hard things. But then take a look at Psalm 23. His negative emotions have taken a turn. He is hopeful and assured of God’s love and provision. He did the hard things and reaped the Joy of the Lord.

Joy and happiness are not to be equated, though. One can be unhappy for a moment yet still have the Joy of the Lord. In fact, it’s the Joy of the Lord that gets us through the future unhappy and downright sorrowful moments each time. The Bible tells us in Nehemiah 8:10 that the Joy of the Lord is our strength. So, when we go through hard things, we should allow ourselves to really face the pain. It won’t compare with the Joy that comes. And with each hard thing, I think our Joy becomes greater. Our perspectives change and we are able to get through more hard things.

Grief is truly, in my experience, one of the hardest things. But even if you’re not in the throes of grief or have never experienced it, chances are you’re fighting some sort of battle right now. Perhaps the hardest thing you’ve done. Embrace all of it. Feel the hard emotions. Have the hard conversations. Do the hard things. Then rise up with the Joy of the Lord as your strength.

We can all do hard things.

Thanks for the inspiration, Megan Davidson. 💕