passionate patience

There's more to come: We continue to shout our praise even when we're
hemmed in with troubles, because we know how troubles
can develop passionate patience in us, and how patience in turn
forges the tempered steel of virtue, keeping us alert
for whatever God will do next.
Romans 5:3-4 (The Message)

People experience things so differently.

In this present moment, some of us are probably doing pretty well. We've settled into a routine and we have found a way to move forward. Others of us are on edge, just trying to hang on and make it from day to day. Many of us are probably somewhere in the middle - doing okay but not completely.

What that means is that each of us will decide (maybe day by day) exactly how hard this time is for us.

​Whatever we decide, however, I think it's fair to say that these are challenging days. To use the language of the Apostle Paul, we are indeed "hemmed in with troubles." But according to Paul, dealing with those troubles can help us develop passionate patience. What's required is perseverance, sticking with it, maybe simply surviving.

One of my favorite singers is Carrie Newcomer. Her voice is remarkable, rich and soulful. But it is her lyrics that move me even more than her voice. She had an uncanny ability to see the world with startling clarity. Perhaps her best-known song is called "You Can Do This Hard Thing."

As the song progresses, Carrie Newcomer highlights difficult episodes that show up in life.

First, we see a young child seated at a table trying to learn how to add numbers. The child is clearly confused. The adult in the scene says to the child: "Add these together, carry the two, now you." Learning math, for the child, is a hard thing.

In the next scene, we see a young person standing at a train station in the middle of winter, leaving for "God knows what." It's a scene of departure, separation, parting. Another profoundly difficult episode in life.

In the next scene, we find someone on the telephone receiving a message describing "the worst thing" that could possibly happen. Whatever that worst thing might be, we understand immediately that it's going to be very, very hard to deal with.

For each scene in the song - and for each scene in our lives - the same refrain is offered. And this refrain is both the point and the purpose of the song:

You can do this hard thing.
You can do this hard thing.
It's not easy I know.
But I believe that it's so.
​You can do this hard thing.

It may be that you are finding life today easy. I honestly hope that's true. And if that's where you are, I am sincerely happy for you.

But it could be that you happen to find life today . . . hard, difficult, impossible. It could be today that you  feel hemmed in with troubles. If so, my prayer is that enduring those troubles will help you develop passionate patience.

​Even more, my prayer is that you will know that . . . you can do this hard thing.