Praise Him in the Hallway.

I’ve been stuck. Stuck in the hallway. Maybe you’ve experienced this too. Discontentment, frustration, and overwhelming feelings of uncertainty. Feeling as though you are spinning endlessly in a rut. Not able to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Wondering “how much longer?” or “why now?"The thing about the hallway is this - it is a means for getting somewhere else. Somewhere that will make us stronger. Somewhere that will be brighter. Somewhere that will sharpen us. Some hallways can seem confusing and unending and dark. They often distract us from what is waiting for us when we move out of that hallway. In complete contrast, other hallways can be straightforward and bright and full of obvious purpose. No matter what type of hallway we may find ourselves in, the best thing we can do is keep going. Keep moving forward. There is always a purpose to where we are. There is always something to learn, something to gain, something to be challenged by, something to be brave through, something to learn how to ask help through. The hallway helps us get to where we’re going. Can we always see or recognize or feel that the hallway helps us get to where we’re going? Absolutely not. Do we even always know where we’re going? Nope. I once read a quote awhile ago that said, "To think bad thoughts is really the easiest thing in the world. If you leave your mind to itself it will spiral you down into ever-increasing unhappiness. To think good thoughts, however, requires effort. This is one of the things that requires discipline." It will take practice to be disciplined with how we view whatever we may be going through. When faced with a continuous, dark, confusing, and monotonous hallway, this is where a foundation of faith can make all the difference. Charles Spurgeon has been quoted as saying, “My faith rests not upon what I am, or shall be, or feel, or know, but in what Christ is, what He has done, and what He is now doing for me”.How beautiful and life giving is that truth? Personally, I have experienced and am currently experiencing many doubts, anxieties, and frustrations, but I praise God that my faith does not rest in any of that. My faith rests in the son of God, Jesus Christ…the one who has died for me, my imperfectness, my inability to fully trust, my mistakes, my weaknesses, and my insecurities. He died for everything we are and have done in order to give us full and abundant life. This truth is a light in the darkness of life’s most difficult hallways. For that, I will praise Him. I will praise Him despite it all. How we choose to move through whatever hallway we’re in determines how we come out on the other side. For me, I will choose to praise Him in the hallway. Even when it doesn’t make sense. Even when I doubt. I know this to be true. He is at work and worthy of praise.words by Meredith Blair and photo by Cate Willis