I’ve been thinking a lot about people I know who are in “hopeless” situations. A little 8-year-old boy with terminal brain cancer who is in his last days. A 15-year-old girl with a disease so rare that she is the only girl in her entire state that has it. This disease has robbed her of her sight and is slowly robbing her of her life. These parents are watching their children die. How do you find hope in a situation like this?
My very favorite movie in the entire world is “The Shack.” If you haven’t seen it, you should. I’m not a religious person per se, but I am deeply spiritual and I always tell my kids “I belong to the religion of The Shack.” Without spoiling the movie/book, it’s about a man’s encounter with God after a devastating and seemingly hopeless experience. He finds himself screaming at God about how unfair life is and God responds by saying, “You are seeing things through a pinhole.”
When we can’t make sense of anything, we have to remember that it is impossible for us to see the big picture. Yes, this world can be unbelievably cruel. I hope I never have to face the loss of a child or a spouse someday, but when all hope is gone we have to remember that God is good and that someday the things that make no sense in this world will make sense in the life to come.
Most certainly you would look at my “How to Feel (and Look) Your Very Best When You Are Going Through Hell” guide and think, “Carly, I’m not going through a break-up; I’m going through the worst nightmare a parent could ever imagine!” I have a co-worker whose husband has just been diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer. She probably doesn’t want to hear me blab about self-care and sleep. So how do you move forward in this crazy life that can be incredibly cruel when you are handed a card like this?
Even though I have never been through a challenge as life-altering as death, I have applied this principle of the “pinhole” in my own little world many times. When nothing makes sense, I have to remember that I am not in control. I am not God and I am viewing things through a pinhole. Someday I will have the mindset to make sense of things that make no sense on this earth.
This is the hope I want you to hold onto when all seems lost. It is totally okay to scream to the heavens that this is “NOT FAIR!!” Keep fighting. Fight for those who can’t fight anymore. Keep living. We’ll see the big picture someday and I fully trust that God will provide and heal your heart in the end.
