The thing is Abbey doesn’t want to fall apart like this. By nature, she wants to be cheerful, to be busy doing something she loves, and to be engaged with other people. She doesn’t really want to throw and break something, to lash out and hurt someone, or to spend her time crying alone with no one. And every time she rides that roller coaster of emotions up and down, she ends up getting off the ride regretting it. We hear things like, “I’m sorry I didn’t mean to do that.” or “I was frustrated”. 

One of the days we were home we took a drive to get out of the house and see the sites. We do this often. We’ve found that it helps her to feel calmer and more regulated and to feel like she did something productive with her day. On this day, as often happens, she began to talk. She told me what she saw outside her window as we drove. She told me where she wished that we would go. Then suddenly she became very introspective and began to tell me how she felt about the hard days she had been experiencing. She talked about her feelings and mainly about feeling frustrated. And from the back seat of our minivan, she said something as clearly and resolutely as she could, “I want Jesus to come back”.

I sat there amazed at this. She had connected the dots between the struggle she was feeling and the wish for that wonderful day when all struggles will cease at the coming of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. How many days have I felt like this? I am feeling it right now, as I write this blog and watch the tragedy that is taking place before us in Afghanistan. How many times have I cried out, “This is hard Lord, please come back soon.”?

The Bible says in Revelation 21:4 that one day Jesus will come back and, “He will wipe every tear from (our) eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

This is a promise we can cling to. A promise which brings comfort and hope in the midst of the hard things of this life. A promise which we will someday see come to pass. In the meantime we “press on toward the goal” (Philippians 3:14) and we “fight the good fight” (1 Timothy 6:12) and we “persevere under trial” (James 1:12) because we know that God is making us stronger through it all (James 1:3) and filling us with His joy and peace and hope all along the way (Romans 15:13).