Chipping Away

I have heard your prayer and seen your tears; I will heal you (2 Kings 20:5, NIV).

Though I do love living in Kentucky, I’m not the biggest fan of our ever-changing weather. It’s not uncommon for us to experience an ice storm, temps in the 60s, and threats for local flash flooding all in a period of a week.

We’re currently on the tail end of that sequence as I sit here writing this morning. We’ve watched as the sunny, 60-degree weather of the past few days has melted all the snow and ice from the last of three consecutive winter storms, and now we’ve got some heavy rainfall predicted throughout the weekend. Life is often like Kentucky weather—dynamic, difficult to predict, and always keeps us on our toes.

This most recent string of winter storms brought freezing rain, sleet, snow, and darn near every possible combination of precipitation to our part of the country. With it came more freezing rain and ice accumulation than we’ve seen in years! Sidewalks were covered with snow and ice, vehicle doors frozen shut, driveways impossible to escape, and many side roads impassable from the havoc wreaked by Mother Nature.

I remember one afternoon in particular where I spent, what felt like hours, but was probably only about 45 minutes, trying to clear my sidewalk, steps, and driveway in order to make things a little safer for coming and going. With salt in limited supply, I did a little online reading and created a homemade de-icer combination that assisted in breaking down the ice to make it a little easier to complete the daunting task. Even still, trying to break through the ice was exhausting. Not only had it accumulated in a very thick layer, it was everywhere, on every single surface! My steps, the sidewalk, my driveway, and every single inch of my car. As I continued to chip away at the ice, I soon found myself feeling worn out, frustrated, and in pain from all the work. I had put forth so much effort and yet still felt very far from accomplishing what I set out to do.

Do you ever find yourself feeling like that in life, too? I know I do. I remember pausing that day to look around and in that moment, I realized that my spiritual journey looked an awful lot like trying to manage the mess of snow and ice that was surrounding me.

Quite a few years ago, I made the decision to seek Christian counseling in order to address some difficult things in my life. Walking into the counselor’s office that first day was a difficult thing to do, but I’m so thankful I made a commitment to go. As was the case that day when I walked outside to discover the breadth and depth of the ice accumulation, it took me returning to my counselor’s office every week, for much longer than I expected, before I was finally able to begin recognizing just how thick the burden of my past hurts.

Many of those weeks were exhausting, tear-filled and left me feeling emotional, and sometimes physical pain. I found myself beginning to chip away and deal with events from my past, unaddressed sin habits, and relationship struggles that had begun to affect every surface of my life.

My time in counseling allowed me to recognize that when we walk through life without addressing these things, we allow the enemy to build thick layers of shame, guilt, fear, and other negative emotions in our lives that ultimately creates an unsafe environment for ourselves and everyone around us. And, like freezing rain that turns to ice when it contacts any surface, when we leave these things unaddressed, they eventually begin to impact our lives in ways we couldn’t have imagined.

The good news is that our stories don’t have to end in an ice-covered mess. After spreading a more effective salt mixture, gathering some additional tools, and receiving help from some dear friends, I was able to clear all the snow and ice from my steps and sidewalk, creating a safe path from my house to my car.

One thing I learned from Snow Storm(s) 2021 is the importance of being prepared, employing the right tools at the right time, and not being afraid to ask for help. When I apply that same lesson to my spiritual journey, I realize how much truth can be found there.

When we’re faced with unexpected challenges, daunting tasks or difficult decisions in life, it’s so incredibly important that we prepare ourselves in much the same way. Start with prayer, seek counsel, connect with the Word of God, which is the ultimate tool that can handle any job, and be sure to surround yourself with Christ-following friends who will support you no matter how difficult things become.

There are no guarantees that the storms will never come. In fact, we know they will because life is much like living with Kentucky weather—things are always dynamic, difficult to predict and we often don’t know what the outcome will look like. But when we place our faith in Jesus, we can rest assured that He will always provide everything we need to continually chip away at any storm that crosses our path.