We’ve all been there. Maybe someone close to you died. Maybe the checks coming in don’t equal the bills going out. We’ve been betrayed, heartbroken, sick, and frail, and odds are, we’ll be there again. Life on this planet can be difficult, and sometimes we feel broken beyond repair.  In those dark places, where we can’t make sense of things and where even getting out of bed is a struggle, there is hope. Here are two lifelines to cling to when you feel that you can’t keep your head above water any longer:

Our first reaction when life gets hard is to try to restore some measure of control to our lives. For those who have been rejected and hurt, we know that it’s impossible to control or predict how others will act. We can’t control our bosses decisions, or the pace of disease as it courses through our body. When life is hard, it feels like we have no control over anything at all. This typically amps up our anxiety or creates feelings of depression. In these dark helpless moments, control exists, and it’s in far more capable hands than our own. To remind ourselves that God is in control, even when we are not, gives us hope. God is bigger than your problems, your failures, or your inabilities. Not only is God in control, but He desires good for you and not harm. In the words of Old Testament prophet Jeremiah, God “knows the plans he has for you, plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” (Jeremiah 29:11). Out of control isn’t so bad, when someone good and capable is in control.

Not being able to make sense of things can be terribly difficult. Life will always have days that bring more than we can understand. People will hurt you for inexplicable reasons, things that seemed solid will shake, and things you trusted will break down. When life gets hard, we try to find all the answers, hoping that once we do, we’ll be able to more clearly see when bad things are coming and avoid them. No matter how hard we try however, we will never be able to see the future before it happens. We will never understand it all, but God does. You might not know the answers right now, but God is not in the dark.He is not anxious about the future. He understands your pain and what you need, and He loves you very much. The courage to believe this fact will get us through many dark days.

I pray that these truths will bring you comfort if you are in a hard spot right now. Don’t give up.  Brokenness is not the end of your story, it is often the beginning of a chapter that is more incredible that you have dared to imagine.