JULY 12, 2025

 “What makes life difficult is that the process of confronting and solving problems is a painful one. Problems, depending upon their nature, evoke in us frustration or grief or sadness or loneliness or guilt or regret or anger or fear or anxiety or anguish or despair. These are uncomfortable feelings, often very uncomfortable, often as painful as any kind of physical pain, sometimes equaling the very worst kind of physical pain. Indeed, it is because of the pain that events or conflicts engender in us all that we call them problems. And since life poses an endless series of problems, life is always difficult and is full of pain as well as joy."

― Scott Peck, The Road Less Traveled

PSALM 7-9

9The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed,

a stronghold in times of trouble.

10Those who know your name trust in you,

for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you.(9:9-10)

ACTS 17:1-15

1When Paul and his companions had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue. 2As was his custom, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, 3explaining and proving that the Messiah had to suffer and rise from the dead. “This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Messiah,” he said. 4Some of the Jews were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a large number of God-fearing Greeks and quite a few prominent women.

5But other Jews were jealous; so they rounded up some bad characters from the marketplace, formed a mob and started a riot in the city. 

JOURNAL 

What I’m seeing more clearly lately is that so much of the pain in life isn’t just from the problems themselves. It’s from the fear of facing them. Scott Peck was right. Life is difficult. And it’s difficult because it constantly presents us with challenges that stir up discomfort, grief, anger, loneliness, and anxiety. But when I really dig down, underneath all of those emotions is fear. Fear of failure. Fear of rejection. Fear that I won’t be enough. Fear that God won’t show up.

Peck’s four disciplines—delay of gratification, acceptance of responsibility, dedication to truth, and balance—aren’t just practical steps for a good life. They are a call to courage. You cannot delay gratification unless you trust there’s something better ahead. You cannot take responsibility unless you believe you’ll be held and guided as you do. You cannot pursue truth unless you’re willing to risk what it might cost. You cannot find balance unless you trust you’re not the one holding everything together.

Scripture has been echoing this same message. Psalm 9 says that the Lord is a refuge in times of trouble. That is not a promise of safety from hard things. It’s a promise that I don’t have to be afraid in them. It’s fear that makes me avoid conflict. It’s fear that leads me to numb out, pretend, delay, or shift blame. And it’s fear that keeps me from the very transformation God is offering through the struggle.

In Acts 17, Paul did not live in fear. He kept showing up in synagogues, proclaiming Jesus, even when mobs formed and riots broke out. He didn’t avoid the problem. He walked into it because he believed the truth was worth it. And Galatians 6 drives the point home. Do not grow weary in doing good. Keep sowing into the Spirit. There is a harvest coming if you do not give up. But fear always whispers that it’s not working. That it won’t matter. That it’s safer to quit.

Looking back, the moments I’m most ashamed of weren’t my failures. They were the times I let fear steer the ship. The times I avoided hard conversations, buried the truth, or chose comfort over calling. And yet, the most life-giving moments, whether the outcome was what I wanted or not, were the ones where I stepped forward anyway. Where I acted in faith, not fear.

This is what I keep learning. Joy doesn’t come from ease. It comes from courage. From showing up. From telling the truth. From doing good. From trusting that God is present even when things are hard, and especially when I feel weak.

Today, I don’t want to live in fear. Not of failure. Not of people. Not of pain. I want to live in truth, sow in the Spirit, and walk in love. Because that’s where the harvest is.

 3If anyone thinks they are something when they are not, they deceive themselves. 4Each one should test their own actions. Then they can take pride in themselves alone, without comparing themselves to someone else, 5for each one should carry their own load. 6Nevertheless, the one who receives instruction in the word should share all good things with their instructor.

7Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. 8Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. 9Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

GALATIANS 6:3-9