Over the last few weeks, as we’ve gone through our latest sermon series, I’ve thought a lot about how good people have become at hiding. Good people .. the type that have been in church a long time. They aren’t necessarily hiding from God, but from each other. Most people, especially seasoned church-goers know how to function while carrying a lot internally. We go to work, we answer texts, we show up at church every week, and we even laugh at the right moments, we just keep moving through life… all while something underneath is unsettled.
This latest series felt important to me not because these struggles are rare, but because they’re common. Almost painfully common. We all have stuff we are dealing with, and we’ve become too accustomed to hiding it.
Anxiety has become so normal that many people don’t even recognize how weighed down they are. Their mind is constantly running. There’s always something sitting in the background. That pressure that doesn’t go away. Even during moments that are supposed to feel restful, their thoughts keep moving. It’s the proverbial hamster wheel analogy.
Then there are the things people carry from years ago that somehow still feel like they are happening today. That shame and regret that just keeps lingering. Time passes, but certain moments still feel emotionally present. A person can know God forgives them and still quietly live as if they owe something for who they used to be. Shame has a way of handcuffing us from living in the present. It’s hard to live in joy while burdened by past failures.
And disappointment… honestly, that one probably sits deeper than most people care to admit. Especially when faith is involved. It’s one thing to be disappointed in life. It’s another thing to feel confused about what God allowed. Most believers eventually go through a season where reality doesn’t line up with what they were hoping and praying for. Those moments can either deepen our faith or slowly erode it depending on how we walk through them. A lot of people become guarded after enough disappointment. They’re not rebellious. They just stop expecting much because disappointment feels exhausting after a while. Past disappointments keep us from hope.
And somewhere underneath all of that is this other question many people wrestle with quietly: “What am I even supposed to be doing with my life?” It’s not some oscar-worthy moment where we break down in tears. Usually it’s just a quiet tension underneath. We feel that we just haven’t lived up to our potential. We start asking ourselves questions: Am I moving in the right direction? Am I wasting time? Am I missing something God wants for me?
The older I get, the more I realize most people are not looking for a perfectly mapped-out future nearly as much as they’re looking for reassurance that their life matters and that God has not forgotten them. We all need to remember that God is not absent in the middle of human struggle. He’s not distant. He’s present right in the middle of the chaos. He’s present in the middle of your confusion. He’s present while you are still trying to figure things out. He’s present while the prayers are still unanswered. He’s still present even while you are trying to recover emotionally from something you never expected to carry this long.
I think sometimes we imagine spiritual growth as becoming emotionally untouchable. Like maturity means you never wrestle, never question or feel overwhelmed again. Like we somehow put on the “SC” Super Christian cape and outfit. But Scripture doesn’t really teach that. Some of the people God used for the biggest assignments still walked through fear, uncertainty, grief, frustration, and even exhaustion.
What changed them was not pretending those things didn’t exist. It was continuing to bring those things to God instead of running from Him. It’s so important to be reminded of this. A lot of people are tired. I hear it all the time. They aren’t just tired physically. It’s a deep down tired. It’s an emotional level tired that lingers, and tired people often start believing things that aren’t true. They start believing they’re stuck, or even worse disqualified from being used by God.
But God is still working, and growth rarely feels dramatic while it’s happening. I truly believe God’s best work happens gradually. It’s a quiet growth that you don’t even recognize until much later in life.
Whatever you may be struggling with today… God is with you. Not that polished version of you, but the real version of you that is a work in progress. After all, that’s what we all are… a work in progress.