I have several friends who are just going through some hard things right now: job loss, severe health issues, loss of a spouse, an adoption that has fallen through. I see their hurt, and I wish I could make it better. I’ve been there, not their exact situations, but I’ve had my own “hard things.” I know the blessing that comes out of turmoil. But when you’re sitting in the middle of it? Oh, is it hard to trust that God has a plan, that he’s going to make sense of it all.

My friend Todd wrote this–it just struck a nerve with me so much that I had to share. If you’re sitting in the middle of “it” and you’re struggling to see God’s purpose, I hope this will encourage you. Keep hanging on. And if you need someone to pray with you or for you, we’re here. Feel free to reach out and let us know here.

What can be said when words fail?

When life turns upside down, how do you deal with a new, awful reality?

Are there anchors that still exist when waves have seemingly washed them all away?

Is drifting in the midst of despair the new normal?

In the middle of seemingly insurmountable circumstances, I’ve discovered that peace often precedes answers. Comfort tends to walk through the door before understanding. And in the midst of overwhelming emotion and angst, we can, with broken and yearning hearts, make choices that can provide stability and hope.

Let me suggest five of them:

1. I choose to believe that God is close to me when I’m at my lowest point.

“The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those whose spirits are crushed” (Psalm 34:18, NLT).

2. I choose to believe that despite how I feel, God is with me and ready to give me strength that I don’t have.

“God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble” Psalm 46:1.

3. I choose to believe that God has a perspective of things I don’t have, and is consistently working.

“O Lord God of Heaven’s Armies! Where is there anyone as mighty as you, O LORD? You are entirely faithful” (Psalm 89:8).

4. I choose to believe that God knows more than I do, and wants to comfort me when my heart says things are hopeless.

“. . . whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything” (1 John 3:20).

5. I choose to believe God can replace my fear with peace, something that can’t be found anywhere else.

“I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid” (John 14:27).

Everyone one of these five is a choice, not a feeling. In fact, it’s unlikely in the midst of our despondency we’ll feel like any of these are true. But believing unseen things is faith. And faith can sustain broken hearts like nothing I’ve ever seen.

It begins with choices, and choices especially anchored in one who claims to be a prince of the peace we desperately seek, set direction for recovery. A recovery which often starts inside of us, long before storms move past.

“God is a safe place to hide, ready to help when we need him. We stand fearless at the cliff-edge of doom, courageous in sea storm and earthquake, before the rush and roar of oceans, the tremors that shift mountains. God fights for us. . .” (Psalm 46:1-3)

Read original post here, the website for 95.1 SHINE-FM, Baltimore’s Positive Hits. Book excerpt from In the Storm: Five Things I Choose to Believe about God, by Todd Gaddy.