Life can be hard—especially around the holidays. Missing loved ones who have passed, struggling through difficult seasons, or simply feeling worn down by life can leave us with a heaviness that’s hard to shake. As humans, we all experience ups and downs… some of us more downs than ups. I’ve been through deep valleys myself, and I know the weight of those struggles.
When you don’t believe in God, it can feel impossible to know how to handle those painful moments. But believing in God brings comfort because you don’t have to carry those feelings alone. You can surrender them to Him. He gives us purpose, guidance, and protection. We can hand over our human fears and limited perspective and trust that He sees the whole picture, even when we only see a tiny part of it.
As humans, we can’t see the bigger picture. When we’re in a low moment, the highs feel invisible. But God sees it all—the beginning, the middle, and the end.
Surrendering to Him takes faith, and that can feel scary. It’s easy to question the unknown: “What if I surrender… and I still fail?”
But what if you surrender and succeed in ways you never imagined? What if God’s plan is better than the one you’re afraid to let go of?
Prayer and reading your Bible are powerful. God speaks to us constantly if we learn to listen. He shifts our perspective, brings peace to our chaos, and shows us how to handle the hardness of this world.
Recently, someone dear to my family passed away. Jim was like a grandfather to my husband and me. After his stroke, we prayed for healing. But I’ve learned that God’s plan doesn’t always look like ours. So I prayed not only for healing, but for comfort. I told God, “I want him to come home and be healed, but I know You already have a plan, and I trust You.”
My husband struggled deeply, hoping and believing Jim would recover. And through it all, God reminded us that He often speaks most clearly to children. After Jim passed, my 13-year-old walked out of his room and said, “God healed him… just not in the way we expected.”
That moment took my breath away.
Many people question whether God is real. Many fearfully surrender because the unknown feels scary. Complete surrender is scary. But I would rather place my faith in a loving God who brings comfort than in nothingness.
Surrendering helps me say, “I am sad. I miss Jim. I pray he is with You.” And it brings me peace to shift my perspective: Jim has no more pain, no more worldly troubles. I believe he is in Heaven with God, and I will see him again one day. That brings far more comfort than believing he simply ceased to exist.
I would rather believe in hope and love. I would rather trust in something beautiful that helps me through my hardest moments—someone I can talk to, trust, and lean on when I feel alone. Someone who guides me even in the unknown. In those moments, I tell God, “I lean on You. I trust You. I know You will lead me through this.”
When we try to fill that inner void with worldly things, we never feel whole. I used to numb that emptiness with alcohol, drugs, and false love. But those things are black holes—they never satisfy, and they will swallow your whole life if you let them.
But when you fill that void with Jesus, He makes you whole. He offers unconditional love, trust, purpose, and truth. Surrendering the unknown is hard, but the transformation is life-changing. I would rather believe in something that gives me purpose and inspires me to be a better person, a better mom, and a better wife… than choose numbness, despair, or emptiness.
Choose something beautiful. Choose hope.
With love and grace,
Rough & Revived
Kayla
