By: Jess Robichaud

Are you facing difficult times in your marriage? Here are my tips for how to find peace in difficult circumstances.

In the Middle of Difficult Circumstances

This has been a tough year filled with disappointment, unmet expectations, and difficulty. 

I’m tired, exhausted, and am struggling with my attitude. It’s been a season of learning to trust God in the reasonable and the unreasonable. Right here, it’s really easy to trust him in the reasonable, but it’s really difficult to trust him in what I feel is unreasonable. And if I’m being honest, I feel like he is asking several unreasonable things from me. 

Are you in a similar season where things feel chaotic? Where it’s hard to hold onto joy and trust God in the midst of the chaos and disappointment? Where maybe what God is asking of you feels unreasonable?

I’m glad we’re in this together. 

How to Find Peace in Difficult Circumstances

In the middle of struggle…in the middle of gnawing heartbreak…in the middle of the circumstances that feel unreasonable…how can we surrender and truly feel God’s peace no matter the circumstances?

Friend, I am still figuring this out and am no expert, but here are some things I am learning along the journey…

Acknowledge the difficulty and be vulnerable with God.

“How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?” Psalm 13:1 (ESV)

When I feel distant and overwhelmed by my circumstances, I am comforted by the fact that we are given permission to be honest with God. 

God wants to hear you and be with you in the raw, uncensored depths of your heart. He longs to walk the grueling road with you. 

Jess Robichaud | A Wife Like Me

He is with you wherever you go and through whatever circumstances may arise. 

Keep perspective. 

In my quiet times the last few weeks, God has brought me to two specific verses that I am etching onto my heart. 

“But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” 2 Corinthians 12:9 (ESV)

When we are weak and embrace this truth, that’s when God can be glorified. It’s when I feel like my circumstances are overwhelming that I need him most.

“And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.” Psalm 9:10 (ESV)

Whether or not you feel it, he sees you and is with you. Feelings are sometimes not an accurate depiction of his love or his presence. Yet the truth of his Word remains.

Remember who God is.  

Have you ever taken time to look at the names of God? I have found this to be very comforting over the past few months. 

Say these names out loud:

God is Adonai El-Roi, the God who sees me.

“So she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, “You are a God of seeing,” for she said, “Truly here I have seen him who looks after me.” Genesis 16:13 (ESV)

God sees you in the middle of your difficult circumstances. He sees your pain, your despair, your tears, and your heart. You are not alone.

God is Jehovah Shalom- the LORD who is my peace.

“In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.” Psalm 4:8 (ESV) 

True peace only comes from him. Rest and find peace in the truth that he is constantly with you and for you.

God is Jehovah Raah- the LORD who is my shepherd.

“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for you are with me; your rod and your staff they comfort me.” Psalm 23:1-4 (ESV)

God is your shepherd and will guide you through the struggles that you are facing. He will provide direction and purpose. 

Make a list of all the places where God has provided and thank him.

It can be really easy to get caught up in the difficult circumstances we face. Then we miss how God has been with us in the midst of the struggle or where he has been working. 

Don’t let your heart focus solely on the dread. Bring your heart back to his truth. 

Take some time to write out where God has provided. Thank him. Praise him. This will help to remind you that he is with you and cares for you. 

Ask for his wisdom.

“If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.” James 1:5 (ESV)

What we need in our circumstances more than anything is his wisdom. Wisdom won’t necessarily give us the reasons behind the trials, but it will help us to persevere through them in a way that honors the Lord. This will also help us to keep the right perspective.

No matter what, know that God desperately loves you. 

Jess robichaud | a wife like me

“In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” 1 John 4:9-11 (ESV)

God loves you more than you could possibly imagine. There is nothing that you could do that would make him love you any more or any less than he does at this very moment. 

Friend, I wish I could sit down with you, have a cup of coffee, and hear your story and what you are working through right now. Know that I am praying for you and your heart. 

My prayer is that we will truly embrace Him as our Adonai El-Roi, our Jehovah Shalom and our Jehovah Raah. I also pray that our circumstances would not shape our perspectives, but that we would root ourselves in the Truth of who God is. 

Wife Step: Which name of God was the most powerful for you to be reminded of today?