Closed my eyes gripping the steering wheel and opened them in a QuikTrip parking lot a mile and a half away. God comes through when you wait on him expectantly.
There's a moment I still think about. I was in my turbocharged sports car, made a stupid move trying to pass on a two-lane road with a double yellow line, and suddenly found myself staring down an 18-wheeler cresting the hill. The car in front sped up, the car behind me slid into my spot. There was a cliff on one side and oncoming traffic on the other. Nowhere to go. So I did the only thing I could. I shut my eyes, gripped the wheel, and screamed one word: Jesus.
I waited for the impact. Three or four seconds of nothing. Then I opened my eyes — and I was in the parking lot of a QuikTrip convenience store, a mile and a half ahead, parked between the lines, engine running, everything at peace. Instantly transported from what should have been the end of my life to a gas station. Not heaven, but it felt close.
That story isn't just a good story. It's the whole point. When you wait confidently and expectantly on God, He comes through. You can do anything because Christ is with you.
When you're going through a hard time, you have to be deliberate about what you let in. There are always people who want to share their worst-case stories. You mention you got some bad news and suddenly everyone who's ever had something similar happen wants to tell you how terrible it was for them.
I remember being a little kid in our church in Columbus, Indiana. A woman walked in from outside, shoes off, just enjoying the grass in the summertime. The greeter at the door said, "I know somebody who got cut by a blade of grass and died." I was a little guy standing there thinking, that's why God made tennis shoes. That greeter should have been fired on the spot.
"You'll always find somebody that's died from something. Don't get people around you that have bad stories about everything."
Tank up on hope instead. Romans 15:13 says the God of hope will fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. When you overflow with hope, it flows out of you into everyone around you. That's what people are getting from your life — the overflow. Make sure what overflows is worth catching.
When you overflow with hope, you become a hope dealer. That's what other people are going to get.
Be the person who makes people laugh, who talks about the good things, who brings something refreshing into the room. Your countenance matters more than you think. If your resting expression scares people, that's something to work on. The Bible says we rejoice in our sufferings — not in the good times, because good times don't build endurance. Endurance builds character. Character produces hope. Rejoicing in the middle of the hard stuff is what produces the kind of person who doesn't quit.
Romans 5:3-4 lays out the progression plainly: suffering produces endurance, endurance produces character, and character produces hope. There's no shortcut. Good times don't do that work. You already think you have everything when things are going well. It's the difficult seasons that reveal what's actually inside you.
Most people don't find out how strong they are until they're tested. You get through something that looked impossible and you think, where did that come from? The answer is: from being in the Word, from being in God's presence, from trusting what He said even when it didn't feel true.
I didn't actually know I could do that. I didn't know I was that strong. Where'd that come from?
Rejoicing during hard times works the same way physical training does. You don't feel like working out when you're tired and weak. But that's exactly when you need it most. When things are at their worst, that's when you turn up the level of rejoicing, not down. You make yourself do it. Rejoice in the Lord — and again, I say rejoice.
First Corinthians 10:13 says no temptation or trial has come to you that isn't common to people, but God is faithful and will not allow you to be tested beyond what you're able to handle. He always provides a way through. That means you are coming through this. Whatever it looks like right now, whatever it feels like, His Word is faithful.
You're not the only person who's ever faced what you're facing. It feels that way — it always feels that way — but other people have been there before and come through. God won't allow you to be tested past your limit because He loves you and He actually wants you to succeed. That's His plan.
And He's not looking for a reason to punish you. His mercy is bigger than most people understand. He's not waiting for you to slip up so He can write you off. His presence doesn't disappear when you wander. You know where He is. He's where you left Him. And you know exactly when you got off track. Everyone does.
2 Corinthians 4:16-18 puts it this way: our light and momentary troubles are producing for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, because what is seen is temporary and what is unseen is eternal.
I keep a note in my phone — just one sentence per entry — of every encounter and experience I've had with God. It's the biggest note I have. When I scroll through it, I sometimes forget half of what's in there. And then I hit a line and think, I forgot about that. That was absolutely amazing. That record matters. It's a reminder, when things look dark, of how many times God has already come through.
"For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all." — 2 Corinthians 4:17
My goal isn't to build something impressive that eventually falls down. Churches fall down. Institutions fade. I'm laying up treasure in heaven — investing in what actually lasts. Even if every circumstance outside me were terrible, I'd still declare I'm living a good life. Because an eternal perspective changes how you see every single day, including the worst ones.
You were made to win. You were created for accomplishment, equipped for success, and carrying something of God's nature inside you that doesn't give up. That's not a motivational phrase — it's the design. When you carry the God of hope with you, you already have everything you need. There's nothing left to wait for.
So keep your head high. Keep your heart full of hope. Be an encouragement to people around you, especially the ones you know are going through something — even if you don't know the details. When someone comes to mind, pray for them. You don't need to know what's going on to pray. Pray in the Spirit and trust that God does.
Your trial, handled well, produces testimony. How you respond during the tough times determines what comes out of your life. Make the decision now: you're going to be someone who praises God on the worst day, someone who sows hope and expectation even when it costs something, because that's what comes back to you.
Victory is coming. Blessing is coming. Not because things always turn out exactly as you planned, but because God causes all things to work together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. His purpose. And that's more than enough to keep going.
