“Anxiety leads to depression, but a good word encourages” (Proverbs 12:25 CEB)

The four-hour bus ride wound up being more like seven. My face was cucumber-colored with motion sickness. When we finally arrived at the dirt road leading to our camp, the bus got stuck in some mud. I picked up an armful of supplies and started walking the quarter mile distance that remained between the bus and the campground. It was the first trip out of a dozen back and forth. Then it started to rain.

I couldn’t help but feel sorry for myself. This was just the second week of a two-month-long missions trip on the other side of the globe. I was home-sick, car-sick, and, thanks to the rain drenching my entire wardrobe, soon-to-be be sick with a cold as well.

I’m sure you’ve also had your share of bad days when nothing seems to go right. You get to the point where you start feeling like your misfortunes must be more than coincidental. Maybe it’s even crossed your mind to ask God, hey, why are you picking on me?!?

“From now on, brothers and sisters, if anything is excellent and if anything is admirable, focus your thoughts on these things: all that is true, all that is holy, all that is just, all that is pure, all that is lovely, and all that is worthy of praise” (Philippians 4:8).

It must have been a whisper of the Holy Spirit that planted a seed in my mind. As I half-walked, half-swam back and forth between the bus and the camp that rainy afternoon, I found myself thinking of all those hymns I learned growing up in the church. I started humming a little. Then the humming became full-voiced singing. It was a jumble of actual lyrics and words that just came to me in the moment.

“Oh Victory in Jesus,” “How Great Thou Art,” “It Is Well With My Soul,” these songs lifted me so far up out of my dreariness that I was eventually laughing and crying tears of joy. I was far from home but I was not alone. The Lord had allowed me to be stripped of nearly every comfort in order to begin teaching me how to be content in any circumstance (Phil 4:11).

Every so often I hear someone remark at how bad the world is getting. Maybe they’re right. Maybe, day by day, things are getting worse and worse. But let us remember to be encouraged because Jesus has not abandoned us to the world, he has overcome it (Jn 16:33).

Dear God, help us to trust you with our troubles and focus our thoughts on those things that fill our hearts with peace and joy. Thank you for the many good gifts you’ve given us, Jesus Christ most of all! Amen.