What to do When Life Feels Heavy

Have you ever been in a season where everything in life just feels heavy? Does it seem like there is just one thing after another pressing down on your mind? You can look out the window and see a sunny day, but in your heart, it feels like an impending storm. 

Often, we can pinpoint the cause of these feelings — a specific set of circumstances, a loss, a trying relationship, etc. But sometimes, life is less obvious and we can’t really put a finger on the culprit. There are days when we just feel sad. 

This definitely describes my recent experience over the last few weeks. Don’t get me wrong — it’s not all been bad. God is still good and has shown Himself faithful. Nevertheless, as I talked about it with my husband, we both admitted to feeling a sense of heaviness that doesn’t really have a clear-cut source or a solution. ​

The more I’ve thought and prayed about this, the more God has helped me to recognize that I’ve forgotten a very simple truth. Life is hard. 

Often, the plain and simple truth I need to remind myself is that this life is hard. When Adam and Eve chose their own way and disobeyed God, all of us were plunged into a life that entails difficulty, hardship, and even sorrow (Genesis 3:16-24). 

This is a “Sunday school truth” — something I learned as a very young child, both in church and at home, and yet I am so often guilty of setting my expectations counter to it. 

• I know that sin taints everything, and yet I still expect to live my life with little inconvenience, problems, or pain. 
• I know that I will wrestle with sin and its effects until God calls me home, and yet I’m still surprised when I trip up and fall into fleshly tendencies and habits. 

I know the truth intellectually, but somehow that truth gets lost on its way to changing how I think and live. This is why I need to be in the Scripture daily. I need to be taught and re-taught these principles and truths regularly so that my thinking will be aligned with God’s truth, rather than my feelings or faulty expectations. ​

Here is just a small sample of what the Bible has to say about how hard life can be :

• Ecclesiastes 2:23 “Indeed, all his days are filled with grief, and his task is sorrowful; even at night, his mind does not rest. This too is futile.”

• Psalm 90:10 “The length of our days is seventy years—or eighty if we are strong—yet their pride is but labor and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away.”

• John 16:33 “I have told you these things so that in Me you may have peace. In the world, you will have tribulation. But take courage; I have overcome the world!”

• 2 Corinthians 4:17 “For our light and momentary affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory that is far beyond comparison."

There is no doubt that life is hard and heavy, and there are often seasons where it feels harder and heavier than others. And while this doesn’t seem like an encouraging truth at first glance, if we look a little deeper, we can find much to cheer our weary souls.

Yes, life is hard, but it will not always be. We are eternal beings, designed to know God and enjoy Him forever. The fall and sin have interrupted that, but they do not get the final say! Jesus’ sacrificial death and triumphant resurrection have redeemed what sin has destroyed! ​

“For in [Christ] all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether on earth or in Heaven, making peace by the blood of His cross.” Colossians 1:19-20

So, while we will encounter hardship in this life, we have future joy with Him that is eternally secured! This future is what we need to remember on our hard, harder, and hardest days. Sometimes the here and now feels like all there is, but we need to remember that this life is just a preface to the main story. Eternity is the story!

Our hope in Heaven can and should be a wonderfully sustaining joy, but if I am honest, there are days when even knowing that doesn’t feel like enough. What do I do between the now and the not-yet? What can help me, strengthen me on dark days or seasons when life feels too heavy to carry? Yes, I look to the future with anticipation, but I also need something to ground me today! 

I am so glad that God hasn’t simply saved us, and promised us a home in heaven, but left us on our own between where we are and where we are going. When Jesus returned to His Father’s side in heaven, He sent us the Holy Spirit. In fact, He told His disciples, “I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send Him to you” (John 16:7). Jesus was bound to a human body and existence. He could not be in more than one place. However, the Holy Spirit is able to minister to, guide, teach, and sustain every believer across the world at all times!

This means there is never a moment that you and I do not have access to the power of God!

• When our burdens are too heavy, He will bear the weight.
• When we doubt God’s care and goodness, He is there to prove that God is always faithful.
• When we struggle through seasons of loneliness or even mistreatment from others, He is the truest friend we could ever hope for. 
• When it feels like our circumstances will never improve, He is working all things together for good!

In short, while we wait for the joy of eternity with God the Father, we are always surrounded by the continuous care of God the Holy Spirit! 
​
Maybe you too are experiencing a season of heaviness. Perhaps you know exactly what circumstance or difficulty is causing you to grow discouraged. Or, maybe you can’t really identify why your heart feels so weighed down. Wherever you are, the answer is the same. When life is heavy, remember who is carrying you. Lean fully into His faithful arms. Be encouraged that these days will not last forever, but while they do, He is with you. And rejoice that a day is coming when this temporary and often painful preface will be passed and the real story, the most joyful story of all will begin.

​When life feels heavy and the weight seems too much to bear, do you find yourself leaning on your own strength, or do you fully trust the Holy Spirit to sustain and carry you through?