Turning to God in the good times

This week I’m worrying. I’m worrying about my baby and about how I’m going to do well enough by him, and even if I’ve done well enough so far. I went for a 28 week growth scan earlier this week, to check baby is growing OK. And it was OK – a bit rushed and certainly not the same magical experience of our 20 week scan (when we went in feeling scared and came out on cloud 9), and a few things of minor concern that that they want to keep an eye on.

So we’re hoping that everything will be fine and that there isn’t really anything to worry about. But in the meantime I’m learning that my hormones mean I now don’t cope well at all with the unknown. I don’t handle it well if I don’t know the answer, or even when I’m going to get the answer. Earlier this week I burst out crying when my husband told me we might need to go into work a bit later. I cried after the hospital visit. We’ll see what tomorrow brings, and the next day, and so on. But for the first time in my pregnancy I’m starting to feel challenged by the emotions of it all, and the enormity of it all. I’m feeling worry set in when I let myself dwell on the stakes of not getting it right.

So I’m back to turning to God and asking Him for reassurance. Asking Him to push through my hormones and help me to trust Him to get me through. I’m trying to remember that I don’t need to do this on my own strength, and that instead I have God’s strength ready, at my fingertips, if I just ask Him for it.

I’ve realised over the past few weeks that when things are going well, I don’t lean on God very much. I struggle to focus in on the ways in which I need Him, and I need constant reminders just to talk to Him. My conversations with Him can be a little superficial, and don’t get to the heart of why I need Him, and how thankful I am to know Him. When life gets a little tougher, I jump right back into a place of greater awareness of my weakness and greater reliance on God. I don’t just give Him a cursory thanks for the good things He’s given me but I beg and plead with Him to help me where I’m struggling.

I wish I were better at leaning on God in the good times as well. I wish I could recognise that I need God in all times, when I am simply failing to live up to the potential I have to do His work, and ask God for help in those areas, using times of plenty to prepare myself for times of need. I am determined to get better at that!

I don’t know if it’s a common issue or not – I Googled “turning to God in the good times” and the first 10 results were all about trusting God when times are tough. Perhaps I’m in the minority here, but turning to God in the hard times is really not my issue! I find it is second nature to me to cry out to God when I’m worried or going through something tough. My writing comes more naturally to me when times are tough, and I even pray to God for really little challenges, such as that when I have a blood test, He won’t let it hurt too much (I know, I’m a wimp).

Further digging of course reveals that the Bible tells us repeatedly to praise God and to thank Him for absolutely everything. I know this in theory, I’m just not very good at it in practice. And I don’t really have any words of advice on this one either. I’m still figuring it out for myself (any advice from my lovely readers is gratefully received – feel free to use the comments box below). I guess my main approach at the moment is to keep on reading my daily devotional and making sure thanking God is a habit through that, to talk to Him often, and to put myself in situations where I’m challenged (e.g. by the Sunday sermon, or in our house group), even in the times when I feel like I’m handling life pretty well. I’ll let you know if I find a more comprehensive solution!

And in the meantime, I’ll leave you with this beautifully succinct reminder from James 5:13:

“Are any of you suffering hardships? You should pray. Are any of you happy? You should sing praises.”