“[B]lessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it.” // Luke 11:28
I was beyond weary.
It had been an especially hard day during a hard week in a string of hard months. This season of suffering had held financial woes, trying health problems, work and vocational stressors. I felt utterly maxed out, and my biggest commitment of the day still loomed ahead. How can I possibly manage this too? I asked the Lord—a meager plea cloaked in desperation.
Out of sheer obedience, I lit my prayer candle and sat down to pray according to my daily routine. I didn’t want to, and I didn’t even feel like I had the time to—but I did anyway, because I’d learned from ample experience that prayer was the only way to receive the grace I truly needed to keep going.
My time in prayer reflected the state of my soul: dry, distracted, and weary. I noted a few intellectual graces, but they in no way felt consoling. After prayer I extinguished my prayer candle in a puff of discouragement, survived the rest of the day, and collapsed into bed. Yet the next day when I sat down to pray again, the graces of the previous day came flooding back. The Lord wasted no time expanding them in wild ways and heaping my heart with the consolation I’d been craving.
When I chose to persevere in prayer despite my contrary feelings, it became the key that unlocked a torrent of grace. This grace led me directly into deeper union with God—and peace lasting far longer than my painful but passing day of misery.
It can be easy to hear the Word of God, but hard to keep it day after day—especially when our fickle feelings and shifting circumstances make perseverance feel futile. Thankfully, your efforts to observe God’s Word will never be empty. The fruit of prayer is not limited to narrow human assessment, and God’s truth won’t change based on your changing feelings.
The Lord always pours out His greatest sustaining grace as you press forward in your most difficult moments.
Today, cleave faithfully to our Lord and choose to persevere. Like Mother Mary, blessed are you when you do (see Luke 11:28).
Megan Hjelmstad (“Helm-stead”) is a wife, enthusiastic hockey mom, and Army Veteran living in Denver, CO. After serving fifteen years in the United States Army, Megan now serves the Church as an author, speaker, and women's mentor in her “spare” time. Megan loves to share God’s hope in suffering and is the author of Offer it Up: Discovering the Power and Purpose of Redemptive Suffering. She’s a long-time team member of Blessed is She and a writer and speaker for several other ministries. Megan adores books, sleep, sunshine, and Colorado’s great outdoors almost as much as she adores Jesus in the Eucharist. Learn more at MeganHjelmstad.com.
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