Y’all.  Life is hard. 

(You’re welcome for all the positivity so far, by the way.)  If you’re ever unsure about how hard life is, just turn on the news.  Or open up social media.  Or listen to people in line at the store.  Difficulty is everywhere.

My brother-in-law recently passed away.  He was my husband’s best friend in the world.  My sister-in-law’s world has been shattered.  A friend shared that her marriage is failing.  Her husband is basically a roommate (at best) and her heart is lonely and abandoned.  A friend on social media just tragically lost her son to a freak health accident.  She’s been so open about her journey and her pain to try to minister to others.  Her son was just four years old.  A neighbor just lost her husband to cancer.  He was only thirty-three.  His younger brother (only nineteen) died in a car crash less than a year earlier.  Another neighbor just finished her second round of chemo.  She’s not even fifty yet.

And you know what?  Sometimes, life is hard because people are mean and backstabby.  Or because groceries are too expensive.  Or because work is necessary to live the life we’re striving to live but also in the way of the life we want to live.  Or because we’re addicted to food and don’t know how to cope with emotions without it. 

Sometimes, life feels hard because of a giant wound and sometimes it’s death by a thousand papercuts.  But oh goodness if you dare complain about the papercut in front of someone in the middle of a giant wound… even if you don’t know they’re in the middle of a wounded season…  you will know it immediately and your problem will feel like nothing.

Isn’t it interesting how quickly we diminish another’s problem because ours feels bigger?  Or how we’ll bemoan someone else’s very large problem because it reminded us that our own isn’t really that big of a problem?  It’s a weird cycle that we never seem to be quite right on.

You lost your job?  Yeah well at least you had a job.  You have a hard job?  Yeah well at least you have a job.  You wish you were married?  Yeah well my husband’s a jerk.  You wish you were single?  Yeah well the dating scene is horrible.  Your kid is on the spectrum and you’re saying that’s hard sometimes?  Yeah well at least you have a kid.  You wish you had kids?  Yeah well try not sleeping for eighteen years.

Why do we do that?  I mean if the Lord of all the universe doesn’t do that, why do we?  Even a quick Google search will send you more than thirty instances where God tells us to put our worries on Him.  He never says, “Yeah well at least you didn’t have your right-hand angel turn on you and become your greatest enemy and your first creations didn’t turn their backs on you over a piece of fruit and you didn’t have to sacrifice your one and only son on a cross to die a horrible death and to suffer all of Hell for three days only to have people still not believe the truth.” 

He never dismisses our worries but instead always reminds us that He is there for us.  His arms are open for us to give our worries, big or small, over to him.

In 1 Peter 5:7 we’re told to put ALL our worries and cares on Him because He cares for us.  Not just the big problems.  Not just the ones that are spiritual.  It says ALL.  The original Greek word translates to all, not just whoever was typing figured all sounded better.  He meant for us to pray for those experiencing the loss of a loved one and for us to pray when our hearts are broken, but He also meant for us to pray when we have a flat tire or when we’re not sure the budget is going to cover the healthy food as easily this month.  All means all because we’re not in charge of any of it, the big or the small.

The next time you pray, think about what things you can give over to God.

-Do you (or anyone in your life) have “big” things to pray over?

-What “little” things do you keep holding on to instead of giving those over to God, too?

-Try to stop yourself from belittling someone’s hard just because you’re going through what you feel is bigger.

-Think about the counsel you keep.  Name a few close friends that you can share it ALL with and ask them to pray for your worries, even the ones you think are small.