The Moments We Fight For

Thunderstorms hit everyone.

For some, they last forever: stretching on and on, turning spring into winter and joy to sorrow and leaving us in a state of perpetual darkness. Distantly, we can remember the twilight, the last glimpses of happiness before the sun set, and anxiously we look ahead to the time when the clouds will be blown away and the skies clear. In that waiting though, we start to forget what happiness felt like. We only feel weight, rain, and wind pushing against us. We trudge forward, wanting to hope for something better but afraid of the disappointment that chills our hearts. Then one day...we see daylight. Dawn appears and rays of feeling break through our emotional numbness. We feel....different. Happy. Those memories of darkness are never far from our minds but we cling tight to the present moment and realize suddenly that this is why we kept moving forward. We walked through the winter so we could feel the sun on our skin again. And that moment when we do is amazing.

Like a firework exploding, joy finally fills every part of you again. Your soul soars higher somehow, as though a weight has been lifted from your shoulders. Chin up, you feel like you can face the world. A song on your mind and a smile on your lips, you march out to seize the day. All of a sudden, you can get out of bed easily again, you had forgotten what that was like. You look in the mirror and realize the smile on your face isn't forced. You hear your favorite song and it doesn't make you cry. When you see old friends they say you look different. Finally you can breathe again, laugh again, hope again. This is the moment you fought for. This is a moment worth fighting for.

I recently heard the trials of life described as a wave, they come in and cover us, we have to swim hard to just stay afloat as the hardships hit. Then the wave draws back. You're left on dry ground again, looking out over the water. A moment passes and then another wall of water comes at you and you go under again. The moments where you can stand on your feet are worth the ones when you are swimming for your life. That's a lot like how life is. For much of our lives, we walk in the valley of the shadow of death, telling ourselves over and over that it will be worth it when we get out, we just have to keep going. When you reach the other side and you're on the peak of a mountain it suddenly hits you that this is why you kept going. This moment, this feeling, made all of it worth it.

I don't know what part of your journey you're at right now.
Maybe the sky has just now cleared for you and your taking in the moment of relief. Perhaps you're underwater, fighting for every breath. Wherever you are, take a chance to remember all the best moments of your life, the times when you were incredibly happy and felt tremendously blessed. Cling to that feeling. Memories of those perfect times will help you get through the dark nights. The next time a taste of heaven comes, thank God for getting you through what felt like hell, thank Him for making it all worth it by renewing your joy, soak up every bit of relief you feel and just enjoy the moment.

If/When you're struggling against a storm that you don't think will end, remind yourself that joy comes in the morning, it always does. It's watching a sunset over a mountain, sitting under the stars in silence with friends, dancing your heart out with an awesome group of people, graduating in the back of a pickup truck, slow dancing to the perfect song, being with all your favorite people doing exactly the right things, it's pausing for a second and realizing that nothing could get better right now.

These are the moments we fight for.