Overcoming Trials

He Helps Me Carry

/ Christine Maynor / Leave a comment

Thank you for subscribing-may these words bring a quiet moment of peace and reflection to your day.

Backstory

Psalm 55:22 says, “Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.” This scripture held a deeper meaning for me this past week. The Hebrew word translated as “sustain” means to hold up or support. After pondering this meaning, I could picture a person climbing a huge mountain with a heavy backpack. Eventually, they cry out to their Savior to help them carry the heavy weight.

He Helps Me Carry

I looked up at the high mountain peak,
And my body felt so incredibly weak.
But I knew that I needed to climb
What was ahead of me at this time.

The load that I carried on my back
Seemed so heavy that I felt I would crack.
I only had myself to lean on as I started to ascend,
As I took step after another, not seeing the end.

As the weight of my pack got difficult to handle on my own,
I felt like my worries and cares were to everyone unknown.
I didn’t know if I could take one more step forward,
As I stumbled and fell to my feet backward.

In my moment of despair, I needed someone to help me,
As I knelt on the ground and whispered a silent plea.
“Please, help me to carry this heavy burden
Because I am desperate and I don’t know if I can rise again.”

In the stillness of the moment, I heard a gentle reply,
“You were never alone, for I have always been nearby.”
I could feel the weight of my pack get lighter
As the view ahead began to look brighter.

The Takeaway

Sometimes the weight of the burdens that we carry may seem too heavy to bear. We might feel like we are climbing a huge mountain with a heavy pack. But we don’t have to carry the weight on our own. Jesus is always there to help us carry what we can’t carry by ourselves. We only need to cry out to Him, and He will be there when we call upon Him.

Watch the YouTube short of me reading part of the post here:https://www.youtube.com/shorts/hhxpDcV-sLU

He Is Life

/ Christine Maynor / Leave a comment

Thank you for subscribing-may these words bring a quiet moment of peace and reflection to your day.

My Daily Musings-August 27th, 2026

“We don’t follow Jesus to have a perfect life. We follow Him because He is life. Peace in chaos. Hope in heartbreak. Light in the dark.”

This quote really resonated with me and made me ponder the meaning. It is true that following Jesus doesn’t guarantee us a perfect life. We are meant to have trials in this life because that is how we grow and develop our faith. I love that this quote says that “We follow Him because He is life.” I agree with that so much. Jesus brings hope and joy into our lives. If it weren’t for Jesus, there wouldn’t be much purpose or hope in our lives.

I know I write about my chronic illness a lot, but that’s because it affects my life every day. On my hardest days, I try to stay positive and keep hope alive in my heart. My hope always comes from Jesus. Because of Him, there is hope that the sun will rise in the morning. Because of Him, even on my hardest days with my health, there is hope for a better day tomorrow.

We all have trials in this life. Because of Jesus, we can feel peace during chaos, hope in heartbreak, and light in the dark. I think of those I know who struggle with depression and anxiety. I don’t know exactly how you feel, even though I have felt anxiety and depression at times. During dark times in my life, I knew that there was hope because of my faith in Jesus. Following Him doesn’t make our lives instantly easier, but with Him beside us, we can endure our trials with hope and faith for the future.

How has following Jesus brought you peace, hope, or light during a difficult season of your life? When life feels overwhelming, what helps you hold on to hope?

He Knows Where It Hurts

/ Christine Maynor / Leave a comment

Thank you for subscribing-may these words bring a quiet moment of peace and reflection to your day.

Backstory:
This idea came from an every day moment with my dog, Coco. A couple days ago, Coco and I were on a morning walk. She wanted to stop to sniff something like dogs do sometimes. She was standing on some rocks and suddenly she held one of her paws up and couldn’t put weight on it. I crouched down and examined that paw. There was a tiny piece of a sticker in there. So I took it out and she was back to normal that fast, and we continued our walk like nothing had hurt her. Later, I decided to apply this experience to my life. We all have trials that feel like painful stickers to us. Not many people can see how painful our trials can be. When we feel alone and hurt, we should look to our Savior to pull the sticker out so we can feel better. 

He Knows Where It Hurts

We all have trials in our lives on this earth,
It has been that way since our birth.
No one really knows what we suffer deep down,
And they don’t know how often we wear a frown.

Our trials can feel painful and can hurt us to the very core,
And the weight on our shoulders could make us fall to the floor.
Just when we have fallen and we can’t get up,
We need someone to fill our almost empty faith cup.

But don’t lose hope in that painful moment of weakness,
You just need to reach out to your Savior in the stillness.
Just know that He will be there for you in an instant
Because His love and concern for you is always consistent.

Only Jesus knows the trials you face every day,
And He will be there when your skies feel gray.
Just look up to Him and He will be by your side,
Because He has felt your pain, and every time you have cried.

Even if you feel like no one understands what you are going through,
And the weight of your trials makes you feel blue.
Just remember that you are never alone for a minute,
Jesus will be there, even if you have reached your limit.

The Takeaway: The trials we face in this life can be painful and the weight on our shoulders might at times seem very heavy to bear alone. But we are never alone. Our Savior, Jesus Christ will be there to help us through our most painful experiences. He has felt all of those feelings and emotions. If we look to Him, He will help us heal from our hardest moments in this life.

Watch the YouTube short here: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/otxojO750xk

The Faith of Our Ancestors

/ Christine Maynor / Leave a comment

Thank you for subscribing-may these words bring a quiet moment of peace and reflection to your day.

My Daily Musings-August 4th, 2026

I am always fascinated when I read stories about my ancestors and other people who lived a long time ago. They had so many hard trials that we can’t even imagine. We have so many modern conveniences that they couldn’t have imagined.

On my family online call a couple days ago, we talked about some of the stories of our ancestors. We talked about how much faith they had as they went through their trials. But reading their stories doesn’t mean that we don’t have hard trials. We just have different trials than they did back then.

It sure makes me grateful for the modern conveniences I have, like electricity, heating and air conditioning, indoor plumbing, a dishwasher, a washer and dryer, and the list could go on and on. It makes my faith stronger when I hear their stories. That’s why we need to read and share the stories of those who have gone before us, so that our faith can grow stronger as we learn from what they endured. Even though our challenges may look different, we still need the same faith, courage, and trust in God that they had.

What modern convenience are you most grateful for, and why? How have the experiences of others helped you through your own trials?

Standing Still in Faith

/ Christine Maynor / 1 Comment

Thank you for subscribing-may these words bring a quiet moment of peace and reflection to your day.

Backstory:
I recently read and studied the story of King Jehoshaphat in 2 Chronicles in the Old Testament and I was intrigued by his faith in God. When two armies were coming to fight against him and his people, his first reaction was to pray. Then, through the prophet, God told Jehoshaphat, “Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord.” I learned that “stand still” doesn’t mean to just stand there and do nothing while God does everything. Jehoshaphat and his people did everything they could to prepare and then they went out to meet the armies. Then the two armies turned against each other, and Jehoshaphat and his people were spared. We should trust in God like they did as we face battles in our lives.

Standing Still in Faith

I pray to Thee, my dear Father in Heaven,
I have felt Thee with me every day without question.
But mortal life is so hard and my faith tends to waver,
Help me trust in Thee in those moments so I feel braver.

I know that Thou art with me always and I shouldn’t doubt,
But at times, my trials are so hard that I just want to shout.
I wake up and my body is fighting a battle against me,
And my heart carries so much weight that nobody can see.

On those tough days, I lean into Thy love even more,
As I find myself falling to my knees to Thee on the floor.
Please, help pick me up when I can’t get off the ground,
And help me see more of my blessings all around.

I read about faith from people in the Bible,
And I see that they trusted in Thee through every trial.
But having faith in my life is hard every day,
I just have to wake up and trust in Thee along my way.

Help me to prepare and do all that I can
And then trust in Thee and in Thy plan.
Please, Father help me to carry my burdens with ease,
And be there for me when I feel weak, please.

The Takeaway: We can learn a lot from stories in the scriptures and our faith can be strengthened.  But faith is an everyday struggle as we navigate our lives on this earth. We need to do all that we can and then “stand still” and see what our Heavenly Father can do in our lives. He will shower us with many blessings if we just open our hands to receive them.

Watch the YouTube short of me reading part of this poem here:https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Q6OWz3D_JaE