Hectic Seasons

This is a follow-up from my last post.

The second thing I am reminded of during hectic seasons of life is this simple verse:

Psalm 3:5 - I lie down and sleep; I wake again because the Lord sustains me.

I remember reading this verse in the middle of the night once when I was up feeding Jack during his newborn days. The first few months of Jack's life was the most difficult season of my life to date. My father passed away just 6 weeks before Jack was born, and my family was drowning in a sea of grief during those weeks preceding Jack's birth. I was up almost every night replaying the horrible events of the night my father passed away. By the time Jack arrived, I don't think I had slept 2 hours straight since my dad's death, and now I had a newborn to throw in the mix. It seemed as if I was awakened continually from either nightmares or a baby crying that needed to be fed. I got to such a low place with grief, lack of sleep, and postpartum blues that I remember begging God to show me that He cared about what I was going through and He had not abandoned me. As I sat there in the middle of the night, I remember praying, "God if I do not hear from you tonight, I am not going to make it through this. Please speak to me." And it was at 2am that night that I read this verse in Psalms:

I lie down and sleep I wake again because he Lord sustains me.

In that moment the Lord spoke to me and said, "Holly, if you wake because of a nightmare, a regret about your dad, or a crying baby, I will sustain you. I will carry you through this season. If you only sleep 2 hours tonight, I will sustain you tomorrow. It is my promise to you. If i wake you, I will sustain you. And He did. It was the first time in months I had felt the Lord speak to me and the first time I truly believed He would be faithful to do as He promised. For the first time in a VERY LONG TIME, I had hope and joy. Hope that I would make it through this season, and great joy because I knew I had heard from the Lord and I knew He did care about what I was going through.

Here I am two and a half years later, finding myself claiming that same promise from Him in the crazy, frustrating nights of the newborn stage once again. But this time, I don't feel hopeless. Because I know my God and I know He cares about me and he will sustain me, no matter what.

Guys, if we wake to face another day we can be sure that He will carry us through.

A simple, but much needed word in my life. Hope it encourages you.


What about you? What valuable lesson(s) has the Lord taught you in some of the most hectic/difficult seasons of your life?