Hope in the Storm: Fighting through Life's Challenges

By Joe Gacheru

I very much know that when we or our loved ones are going through some tough experiences, like a prolonged sickness, what we want to hear and what we want to know is that God still cares--to feel His closeness and to know He knows what we are going through. We want to know that God hears our prayers even in the middle of the night when no one else is there.

What I strongly believe is that not a single prayer slips by God, because there's no time of day He isn't listening. God heard you ten years ago, and He heard you last week, and He hears you right now, and He's already listening for your tomorrow. In fact, He's listening so well, He already knows what you're going to say.

I also know very well that God never says, "Oops." God is in control of the trials. God is not on his throne wringing his hands as he waits for the outcome of events.

Take from it me, my friend: no matter how dysfunctional your background, how broke or broken you are, where you are today, or what anyone else says, you matter to our living God.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Jan 15, 2022
• ISBN: 9781638740490

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Hope in the Storm

Fighting through Life's Challenges

Joe Gacheru

Copyright © 2021 by Joe Gacheru

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.

832 Park Avenue

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Hope in the Storm

Cherishing the Opportunity Life Gives Us

Faith Lives in Our Hearts

Forgiving My Dad and Stepfamily (When They’re Not Sorry)

Benefits of Failure

Living under pressure: Strength for the Journey

Controlling Anger Before It Controls You

Claiming Your Power and Healing Your Roots

Living a Fulfilled Life

Healing Old Wounds With New Stitches

Healing Old Wounds With New Stitches

Moving Forward, Learning from the Wildebeest

Keep hope up, no matter what.

—Anonymous

Not all those who wander are lost.

—J.R.R. Tolkien,

The Fellowship of the Ring

Introduction

Hope is a phoenix rising from the ashes.

Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness. (Desmond Tutu)

Hope rises like a phoenix from the ashes of shattered dreams. (S. A. Sachs)

The wings of hope carry us, soaring high above the driving winds of life. (Ana Jacob)

Hope is important because it can make the present moment less difficult to bear. If we believe that tomorrow will be better, we can bear a hardship today. (Thich Nhat Hanh)

Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin. (Mother Teresa)

Finding faith and hope in times of despair is crucial to outlasting your current conditions and finding hope and a willingness to change who you are. Despair often stems from loss. The death of a loved one, separation and divorce, disasters and financial ruin to name a few.

I have felt discouraged and defeated many times in my life. I have had life deliver blows that have knocked me to the ground. The pain and the feelings of hopelessness and despair have consumed my life for many months.

During those times, I have often wondered if I would ever survive the situation I am in, or if I would live a life where I felt happy and safe. Slowly, over time, my life has gotten better and stronger.

Now when I look back, I realize that these events—though they were very painful at that time—were the catalysts for me to build hope, to have words of hope to share with others, which have become opportunities and tools for supporting others who are facing storms of life.

Hope in the Dark by Rebecca Solnit was originally published shortly after the United States and its allies began the 2003 war in Iraq. It offers a view of hope that speaks directly to times of crisis. Solnit argues in favor of hope as neither a feeling nor a wish, but as an essential element in a strategy for affecting change. What is crucial to Solnit’s understanding of hope is expressed in the prepositional phrase in the dark, which comes from an entry in Virginia Woolf’s journal, written toward the beginning of World War I: The future is dark, which is on the whole, the best thing the future can be, I think. Solnit explains:

Rise Up by Andra Day is an inspirational song that makes people feel better. Rise Up is a song about perseverance, courage, and confidence. Perseverance is facing a struggle but finding the power in yourself to as Day says in her song rise up. Despite anything you are going through in your life you need to stay determined and keep going. Everyone must always remember that there is always a light at the end of the tunnel no matter how long that tunnel might be. I’ll rise up, in spite of the ache. I’ll rise up and I’ll do it a thousand times again.

You, too, will rise repeatedly, if you can only believe. Life might throw at you many curveballs, but declare to rise up after every hit. And in every of those, I encourage you to put your entire faith in the Source (God) that is greater than you because He is reliable and true to His promises. Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you (Deuteronomy 31:6 NIV).

God’s promise to be with us gives us confidence and hope. He promised to be with us. He gave His unfailing Word that His presence would be with us always. With Him, fear has no place. We can leave our anxiety behind. His presence is a place of peace, hope, joy, and strength.

Chapter 1

Hope in the Storm

When I was ten, I lost control of my legs. I remember suddenly stopping to walk. Being disabled in a rural Kenyan community was the worst thing for me. I remember struggling with debilitating pain on my ankles and spine, but my feet were highly affected, causing me to not be able to stand or walk without. It was very difficult to get out of the bed.

My mother, who at this time had other young children, had to juggle around all our needs. She had also to work in the farm to provide for us, and my dad did not care very much. I remember crawling on the dusty floor in our two-bedroom tin mud house, which was not cemented. I remember trying to chase my younger siblings on my knees, unable to catch up with them. I remember crawling on the bumpy ground outside the house, looking for the best spot (with lots of sunshine) to take a nap. I remember my mom and, sometimes, neighbors carrying me on their backs to take me inside the house. I remember being pulled on a sack (sisal bag) back to the house; we had wheelchair for me.

There were many embarrassing moments such as going to the bathroom right in the bed because I could not crawl or get help to go to the outhouse. My family and I had to endure these moments of shame, desperation, and fear of living for the rest of my life handicapped.

As I tried to live, I worried about family hiding me in the background, being laughed at—being defined by it no matter what I did. It was sad to always feel others’ judgment even if I can’t see it in their eyes—which, most of the time, I could see it. I felt incredibly lonely in my grief and uncertainty.

You see, in Kenya those days, the traditional view of disability often focuses on the individual, highlighting incapacities or failings, a defect, or impairment. This focus creates obstacles to participation on equal terms since an individual who seems to lack certain capacities may not be able to attain autonomy.

In Kenya, many children with special needs are considered a bad omen by some families and are therefore locked in and denied opportunities for personal growth and development. We value always aiming for bigger, better, and stronger and are uncomfortable with facing our limitations and inabilities.

Disabilities are considered a plague to be eradicated, not a natural expression of human diversity. It was (and possibly) very painful and difficult to be disabled in a rural village in Kenya; and if your family is poor, you suffer even more. This is what I had to go through for a year.

Then one day, after my mom’s persistent prayers, I started to have feelings to the feet again, I could walk and run again. I was so happy, and I was ready to restart my life again. I had been in that condition for almost a year. I could not wait to start playing soccer again. I could not wait to go back to school; my dreams were renewed, and I could not wait to live my dreams again.

The Whys?

Why did I become disabled at ten, why did my dad have to neglect us, why was I born poor, and why did God allow me to be disabled at ten years old to teach me a lesson? What lesson did He want me to learn? Was there any meaning to allow me to be disabled? I struggle with this question sometimes. I have come to accept that I will not understand everything that God has allowed for it to happen to me and others while I am on this earth. I don’t have God’s mind; I don’t share His perspective. In 1 Corinthians 13:12, we’re told, Now we see things imperfectly like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. Someday we’ll see with clarity, but for now, things are unclear. We can’t understand everything from our finite perspective. And frankly, the people suffering from any sort of tragedy or ailment don’t need a big theological teaching right now; any intellectual response is going to seem inadequate. What they desperately need now is the very real and comforting presence of Jesus Christ in their lives. And I’m so grateful that so many churches and ministries of this community are helping them experience that.

I want to encourage anyone feeling like giving up their dreams to look for those opportunities that you need to touch to flicker a candle of hope in you: fire it and let it lead you to a place where you can light others’ light. It’s hard to stay strong when you feel like giving up. It feels like your world is crumbling down around you, and there is no option out. The reason why we think like this is because we forget about the big picture. We focus on the minor things and not the major things that are important in our life.

Every day is a struggle if you have a negative mindset. When you are wallowing in pity and misery, it is hard to see the good and the true potential that is inside you. There’s something undeniably compelling about one who takes their strengths and weaknesses in stride, never losing them in one flaw but seeing the whole person.

I have learned that in life nobody else will love you for you. Only you