When you're uncertain.

A few weeks ago, something strange happened.

Vision, blurry. Words, escaping. Arm, growing numb.

I’m not sure why it happened. But it certainly brought me some perspective.

Philippians 4:4-7 says,

 

“4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

 

So what happened? The vision change, confusion, and arm numbness was a strange episode my doctor would call TIA, which is another term for a mini stroke.

 

They aren’t quite sure why it happened and we still don’t have answers. But I was honestly angry with God and certainly did not want to rejoice in that moment. Even before my TIA episode happened, it seemed like we were already in a really long season of just “hard”. I was tired of what seemed like one bad thing happening after the other…now this too? Can you relate?

 

Philippians 4 is a convicting passage written by a guy who knows a thing or two about difficult circumstances (aka Paul). We are urged to “Rejoice in the Lord always.” We are not to only rejoice when things are going our way. We are not to only rejoice when we are happy. We are not to only rejoice when we get great news. We are to rejoice always. When we are in a hard season, rejoice. When we get the hard news, rejoice. Yes, even in the midst of health battles, rejoice. 

 

Why?

 

Because we are told, “The Lord is near.” (vs 5b) Amen. 

 

 

Maybe you are going through your own season of “hard” too. You feel overwhelmed, stressed, full of anxiety. You are not alone.

 

 

Yes, life is hard. But we can bring our sorrows, situations, confusion, anxiety, mess, prayers and petitions all to God with thanksgiving because he is the one who makes the ultimate trade with us. He says, Emma I’ll trade you. You can have the ultimate peace. Yes, so much peace that it surpasses anything you could ever understand, and I’ll take on your really hard situation. You don’t have to worry about that anymore, I’ve got you.

 

 

All he asks is for me to bring my situation to him in thankfulness. And when you realize what you are trading, it’s hard not to rejoice and be thankful. He takes that trade for me on a daily basis, and He is ready to do that with you.

 

So have my circumstances changed? No. But now I can look at my situation much differently. I can look at them as a gift, a gift of perspective. 

 

I’m going to think of this strange health occurrence as a gift, a reminder. It reminds me of the original desire when first starting Bungalow, to bring a little more encouragement to this world. It reminded me of what matters most as a mother, wife, friend, etc. It helped remind me to keep the perspective of eternity, my limitations, and to lean into community. Our season hasn’t necessarily changed, but my perspective has.

 

So what am I going to do with this gift of perspective? I’m going to continue to point to the Lord. I am going to keep writing notes of encouragement to you my dear friend and be a light and encouragement to you.

 

I’ll ask you, can you join me? There are so many reasons to be negative and full of anxiety right now. But there are so many more reasons to be hopeful and full of peace. 

 

Will you share this encouragement with others too?

 

It can be as simple as sending the link to this blog with someone you love.

 

It could be rehearsing the verses in Philippians 4 to yourself. I’ve created a cute image of these verses in this blog so you can print them and hang them in your home - memorize them.

 

 

We are all adding something to the world whether we want to admit it or not. Let’s share this peace that only the Lord can give us, be a light.

 

From the Bungalow,

Emma

 

 

P.S. You can find the art piece "Orange Delight" used for the background of the images in this blog post here.