Malaysia’s active COVID cases have increased dramatically over the last week or so and, to no one’s great surprise, schools were forced to close again. Though we’re in a milder lockdown (teachers at least can still work from school and we can go on walks and whatnot), there’s a general sense of disappointment and discouragement going around.

I have both heard and been guilty of having two responses to these struggles, neither of which have been terribly helpful. So, since I am not without sin, I cannot cast the first stone and that’s not what I’m here to do anyway. Instead, I hope to work through these responses and try to find some common, middle ground between the points of view and hopefully provide a small means of encouragement.

Anyway, the first response I’ve heard/said is basically, “Everything is terrible. Nothing is getting better. There’s nothing we can do to make it better. We just got to sit here and be miserable and hope it ends soon” (a bit exaggerated, but the general gist is there).

At the weirdest points in my life, I have an Anne of Green Gables quote come to mind: “To despair is to turn your back on God.”

A strong statement. And definitely not one that I would use with someone who is struggling with depression/anxiety/worry. But there is an amount of truth in that statement. As Christians, we are the ones who should be the most joyful of people. Our greatest need – our separation from God – has been met through and redeemed by Christ’s death on the cross.

But I get it. Sometimes, that sacrifice seems far from our current struggles. Sometimes we feel distant and unheard.

Sometimes we have nothing to say to encourage others, because we don’t feel encouraged ourselves.

It’s at times like these that we must remember. The Bible puts such emphasis on remembrance throughout the Scriptures – putting up altars and stones of remembrance in the Old Testament (Deuteronomy 6:20-23, Joshua 4), recalling God’s faithfulness in the past in the New Testament (John 14:26, Luke 24: 6-8, 2 Peter 3: 1-10).

It’s our tendency to draw back when faced with difficulty, but that’s the exact opposite of what we should do. We should lean in; peruse the Word and see the faithfulness of God to His people throughout Scripture.

Remember the example of the sons of Korah in Psalm 42. They voiced their pain:

“My tears have been my food
day and night,
while they say to me all the day long,
“Where is your God?”

They remembered when “I would go with the throng and lead them in procession to the house of God” and how now, in contrast to their previous joyful service, their soul “is cast down within me.”

So it’s okay to voice pain, to voice struggle, to be downcast.

But the Psalm doesn’t end there and we can’t either.

The psalmist exhorts his soul to look to the future, “Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.”

He may not be praising right now and sometimes we aren’t praising, but both we and the psalmist can look forward to the day when we will praise again. Because this is a season. And seasons have an end. Even if this season seems excruciatingly long, we can hope and pray and remember and long for the day when “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away” (Revelation 21:3).

So recall the small blessings, remember the major and minor miracles in your own life and throughout Scripture. Hope in God.

The second response to this crisis and struggle I find a bit more subtle. “Sure, it’s been challenging, but it’s not as difficult as people who [live in Africa…don’t have internet access… live in a warzone….insert your global crisis here.]” And they’re right, we don’t have it as bad as some. And we can always cultivate thankfulness.

But that response is also dismissive of real pain and trouble that people are going through. Because what can you say after bringing up a struggle you’re dealing with and you’re met with, “Yeah, but at least we can be grateful that we even get to do these things”?

I know my response is always, “Yeah, you’re right.” And I’ll shut down, shut up, and never mention any of my struggles again because someone always has it worse than I do.

But that is not a Biblical response either. Because you know what I see when I look in the Word? My God never dismisses pain or compares it to someone else’s no matter what they’re going through.

I think of Jairus and his daughter who is dying. The urgency, the life or death situation he found himself in. Jesus responded to him and saved his daughter, but….not before He paused and helped a woman who had been dealing with a chronic health issue.

Could the woman have waited, sought Jesus out later because her situation was not as urgent as Jairus’s? Yes, but she came anyway; she believed God would have compassion on her and heal her.

And Jesus did not let her leave until she acknowledged what had happened and spoke to Him face to face, so He could tell her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease” (Mark 5:34). Because He’s personal and He cares about the individual – not just their physical well-being (“be healed of your disease”), but their hearts (“your faith has made you well”) – He wants her to know He heals deep emotional wounds as well as physical ones.

I think of Jesus talking to Peter at the end of John’s Gospel and Peter gets anxious about what God has in store for John, “When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, “Lord, what about this man?” Jesus said to him, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me!” (John 21: 21-22). Our walk of faith can look different from those around us and we don’t need to compare it to others because Jesus didn’t. He just wants us to follow Him, looking neither to the right nor the left, but having our gaze focused on Him, one step at a time.

So, we can remind our struggling brothers and sisters of ways they can remember and be grateful for what they have, but don’t diminish or silence their pain. Jesus never did.

In this age of social media, it is both a blessing and a curse to be so connected. We’re so much more aware of needs – deep, scarring, traumatic, global needs – that it can often be crippling. Sometimes, I’m so overwhelmed by all the issues people are telling me to care about that I completely shut down and can’t care about anything. I find myself asking, “What am I supposed to do?”

And again, Jesus comes with a simple, powerful truth, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Mark 12:31).

Who has God put before me to care for? Who is my neighbor? I am one person – I cannot effectively care for all the world. But I can encourage the teacher who is far from home, struggling with their workload. I can talk to the cleaning lady who hopes to go to college soon and must wait for it to open again for her to attend. I can pray for the church member working from home with little kids and finding it hard to focus. I can bring a meal to a sick coworker. I can teach students about racism, digital citizenship, and responsibility. I can check on the student who is wrestling to complete homework in an online environment.

These are practical, small ways I can serve and love those around me. And sometimes, in comparison to all the great needs in the world, it doesn’t look like much. And I can still pray and contribute aid to some of those global needs too. But I can’t let myself get so caught up in the macro that I miss the micro.

Who is before me? Who can I love today, right now? Who is my neighbor?

Because the people right in front of me are people who God created and loves. And they’re hurting and weary too. These small, daily matters are big to my God and He cares about them. As His child, I should too.

And I’m finding that my response should come down to those basic truths: hope in God, love your neighbor, love HIM.