Photo credit: Ann Visser (after long winters, my crocuses are often the first to grow in spring)

Finding It Hard To Grow In This Crisis? You’re Not Alone! 

Are you finding it hard to grow during this crisis? Are you feeling distracted or overwhelmed? This current global crisis is causing all kinds of fear and panic and hardship right now. 

In this post, I wanna give you three perspectives and one action step that you can take right away so that you can grow when the going gets tough.

#1 – Accept That Struggles Are Part Of Life

The number one thing to do is to accept that everybody struggles. No one is exempt. Because I live in this world, I need to accept that struggles are a part of life. That acceptance is the key to helping us grow through crisis. 

I wanna tell you about Jody. When I first met her, she was so full of fear and she was asking:

“Why is life so hard for me? Why am I the only one that’s suffering?”

But she didn’t realize that other people were experiencing hardships too… even if they weren’t exactly the same as hers. And once Jody was able to accept that life is hard, then she was able to see new opportunities and new possibilities right where she was. 

You know, the Lord doesn’t promise us an easy journey. In fact, Jesus himself said that life is hard. 

#2 – Hard Times Are Opportunities To Make Good Choices

Did you know some of our best decisions actually come out of hard times? That’s hopeful isn’t it?! The second perspective shift is that difficult times actually give us an opportunity to make good choices. This has certainly been true for my hubby and me! 

Continually working through our marriage challenges has created some of our best choices.

For instance, I’ve chosen to take responsibility for my part in our marriage and that has helped me to go within to understand myself better. 

Secondly, working through our marriage challenges started me on a personal growth journey that has now become a lifelong journey. And I don’t wanna stop! It’s put me on this journey with God himself. It’s caused me to press into God to understand His heart for me in the midst of the challenges. And that process is SO much more important than the destination. 

And now, I get to help other people and couples grow because I’ve walked through that difficult time in our lives. I want to give other people hope that if I can grow, then you can too. 

#3 – We Get More Of What We Focus On

And third, I wanna talk about focus. You know… we get more of what we focus on. I recently spoke with a cancer survivor — actually, she’s a thriver! And I asked her,

“You had a mastectomy but that didn’t seem so traumatic… How did you manage that season of your life?” 

And she said somebody asked me at that time are you grieving the loss and she said that wasn’t really in her mind. Instead, she was thinking more about the operation because she knew that they were hard. So her focus was on recovering.

And she was just so grateful that the operation was finished and now she was looking forward to the future and to her recovery. 

This beautiful woman of faith pointed me to one of her heroes who is Joni Eareckson Tada who recently celebrated her 70th birthday. 

Now, Joni has lived far beyond statistics, which said she should never have lived 50 years as a quadriplegic after she had broken her neck in a tragic diving accident. This woman of God found such encouragement in Joni’s story of acceptance through her situation.

#4 – Feed Your Faith And Starve Your Fears

So today, I want to encourage you to have a different perspective and a different focus regarding hard seasons and difficult problems.

Instead of running to fear, focus on your faith and starve your fear.

That way you can focus on God. That He is for you and not against you. This is how you can continue to grow even when the going gets tough.

And remember to show up each Wednesday at 1:00 pm AST to 👉join me here 👈for our Facebook live. I’d love to see there as I share more practical tips on how to create a powerful Godly mindset, relationships and leadership.