On the hard days

Please don’t think me harsh when you read what I’m about to share — questions that came during a time of deep loss. But as I’ve learned, even in pain, there is often a lesson waiting to be found.
I was 22, just four months into my first pregnancy. My husband and I were expecting twins. For us, life was beginning — two heartbeats full of promise — and, simultaneously, a heavy shadow was falling.
After a 6-year battle with cancer, my brother’s fight had come to an end. On the trip home, my thoughts were unsettled. I thought of his wife and their three small children. Where would life lead them now? I thought of a little girl, too young to remember the warmth of her father’s love. Of two small boys who would carry memories shaped by grief. I thought of my mom and dad — grieving the unthinkable loss of a child. So many tears.
I remember the ache, the anger, the sheer unfairness of it all. And in the middle of that emotional storm, one question rose above the rest: Why?
I asked God, through tears and anger: Why not the man on the street — someone I might have once judged or overlooked? Why my brother? Then came the quiet voice of Holy Spirit: Your brother was ready. The man is not.
Scripture reminds us that hardship is part of the human story. Paul spoke of a “thorn in the flesh,” something so burdensome that he pleaded with God three times to take it away. Leaving the thorn, the Lord reminded Paul that His grace was sufficient and that His strength would be made perfect in Paul’s weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9).
There is something mysterious in the way God meets us in weakness. We tend to want strength to mean power. But scripture defines strength differently.
Consider Gideon: hiding in fear, yet God calls him “mighty man of valor.” Gideon protests, saying he’s the least in his family — nonetheless, God sees something more. When it came time to fight, God reduced his army from thousands to just 300 men. It made no human sense. And that’s the point. The victory came not in numbers or strength but by God’s hand.
Sometimes, on the hardest days, all we have is the assurance that God’s hand is still on us.
Jesus told us the rain falls on the just and the unjust alike (Matthew 5:45). Being faithful doesn’t exempt us from suffering. Faith gives us a place to turn to. When the storms roll in, we have an anchor. When our hearts are heavy, we have a Comforter (John 14). When our strength fails, we lean on His.
So what do we do when the hard days come? We cry if we must. We pray, even if it’s only a whisper. We reach out to God and to one another. We remember the stories of those who walked hard roads before us, and we let their faith remind us that we’re not alone. We remember that weakness is not the absence of God’s presence; it is the place where His presence becomes most real.
If you are walking through a hard day today. Remember, you are not forgotten. The One who called Gideon and met Paul in his weakness is with you even now. And His strength is still made perfect — in you.
I will pray the Father, He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you forever; Even the Spirit of truth… I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.”— John 14:16–18

Cheryl Mixon-Cruce is Pastor of Ochlockonee Bay United Methodist Church and Sopchoppy United Methodist Church.