When easy things become hard: A new lesson, begrudgingly learned

You’ve heard me say a lot, “I can do hard things.” It’s a phrase we often fear. God has shown me I can do hard things many times in my life. Heck, raising kids was hard, starting a business was hard, writing a book was HARD. But this season is teaching me something different. The lesson with this injury has not been that I can do hard things. 

My uninvited immobility has made easy things annoyingly difficult. And I haven’t liked it. One. Single. Bit. The new lesson has been this: I can do things that I don’t LIKE or WANT to do. 

I don’t like easy things being hard. I don’t like being slowed down. I don’t like that I can’t carry in groceries, pull the trashcan from the street, or walk to my car. It frustrates me to have to grab crutches in the middle of the night and carefully make my way to the bathroom. I don’t like watching summer gently drift into fall without my usual runs in the neighborhood. 

Jesus has been gracious with me while I have wrestled with bad moods and bitter grumblings as I’ve been learning this new lesson. I feel loved and seen by God, cared for in such tender ways.

One time, I could almost feel Jesus grinning at me as I was unloading the dishwater {usually an easy thing} while on the knee scooter {now a hard thing}. I was desperately trying to reach the utensil tray that was two inches from my fingertips. It was as if God saw the cuss word forming through my clenched jaw and tight lips. I felt a quiet nudge in my spirit, almost like a wink, “Take it easy, little one. I know this frustrates you. Take a breath. Slow down, move the scooter, and try again.” 

So I have a question for you: how do you see God when you are not at our best, where you are begrudgingly learning a new lesson? 

At that moment, I didn’t sense there was a God who fussed at me and condemned me for being frustrated. God doesn’t expect us to start out with perfect attitudes and dreamy dispositions. He loves us, quirks and all. He is with us, clenched jaw and all. Sometimes we all give ourselves too hard of a time for being human. 

The Be-With-Ness of God is the most sacred gift we uncover in our trials. When easy things are suddenly hard. When hard things are just plain hard. When life backs up and dumps a dirty old pile of “I Didn’t Ask For This” in our front yard. As we deepen our relationship with God, we will gently be pointed to a better way: Christ-likeness.

Easy-things-turned-hard have become a threshing floor where God has met me. The sacred encounters with God have carved a new path of compassion and empathy. The broken bone forced me to confront other iterations of my broken ways. I was invited to toss aside my fierce independence, requiring me to ask for help. I’ve realized my frenetic movement often masks a deeper vein of challenging feelings. In being slowed down, I’ve stumbled upon hidden, yet beautiful wells of suppressed emotions. God’s tender grace and sweet presence provided me the promise of unconditional love, even in my grumpy moments.

My foot is not fully mended yet, but the worst is certainly behind me. The pin is out of my foot; that’s a story for another day! I have two more weeks of crutches and slight weight-bearing, then a few more weeks in the boot. I can FINALLY see the light at the end of the dreadful, dark tunnel that felt like it would never end. I’ve been able to ease back into small pockets of my life, bringing with it a slight, yet sweet taste of normalcy.  

Anyone else out there find themselves begrudgingly in a season they didn’t ask for? No matter where you are, I pray you are discovering a God who is abounding in love and immensely patient with you. 

He meets us right where we are, grumbles and all.