Have you ever had a bad day that left you feeling like you’ve been dropped into a deep, deep hole that seems to be a million feet down?

I’ve had one of those days. Days where I could barely lift my head off the pillow. Nights filled with restless tossing and turning in the dark.

The hours and minutes tick by, and the weight of the day gets heavier with each tick of the clock.

At one point in time or another, I am sure we’ve all had days like that. Perhaps you’ve had weeks and months filled with days like that.

When you’re in the midst of a hole, whether it’s self-dug or someone threw you in, it’s hard to believe you’ll ever get out. The sides of your prison are the only things you can see, and the top of the hole seems so far away it is unattainable.

In these situations, it’s easy to dwell in our misery. I do that a lot on days such as these.

“Oh, woe is me,” I think. “Why would anything like this ever happen to me?”

Unfortunately, dear readers, staring at the sides of your pit and lamenting your circumstances for too long is unproductive and will stagnate you.

I’ve heard it said that “It is OK to not be OK – but it’s not OK to stay that way.”

Putting it another way: Unless your name is Frodo, you can’t make your home in a hole.

For those of you who are wondering, Frodo is a character from “The Lord of The Rings.” He is a hobbit, a small humanoid creature created by J.R.R. Tolkien as a resident of The Shire, a beautiful countryside in the made-up land of Middle Earth. Hobbits, by and large, live in holes in the ground in the series of books.

Instead of taking up residency in my pit and throwing myself a huge pity-party, I should take the first step of getting out. What I really need to do is humble myself, get down on my knees and rely on the only one who can get me out: my Lord.

There are a variety of circumstances which attempt to crush us, friends. There are a number of things that will come against us and attempt to make us dwell in our holes in the ground.

“You’ll never get out of here,” the thought comes. “You’ll be stuck in here forever, and there is nothing you can do about it. You are worthless, you are broken and nothing will fix you.”

Again, just as fear is a liar, so are your circumstances.

Just because you are facing adversity, it does not mean that you are stuck. Just because you are having hardship, it does not mean you are unfixable.

Nothing can steal your joy because there is hope and peace in the name of Christ.

We all face times of sorrow and defeat, and it is OK to be sad, angry or feel that defeat for a short time. However, you cannot live there.

Depend on the Lord, call on him and allow your faith to grow.

Sometimes, when life feels particularly hard, I struggle against leaning on the Lord. I fight handing my problems over to him, as if I would be troubling him with my issues. Or, I don’t give them up because I feel like I should be able to take care of them on my own.

Neither of these things are true. First of all, God invites us to trust in Him and lay our burdens down, as in Psalm 55:22.

“Cast your burden upon the Lord and he will sustain you; He will never allow the righteous to be shaken.”

Likewise, I have to remember I’m not in charge, and I don’t have to go it alone.

That by itself makes me feel a lot better, because I’ve “been in charge” before and I’ll tell you it doesn’t turn out well.

We don’t have to sit in our holes and cry by ourselves – doesn’t that make you feel better already?

That’s not to say that you will never face hardship. And, I am sorry to tell you, it also does not mean that you will be guaranteed the answer to your prayers that you desire.

Sometimes, our circumstances don’t end up being what we would like them to be. We are not in charge and we don’t see the entire plan that is God’s will.

As Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13:12, “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face-to-face. Now, I know in part; then, I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.”

Some unfortunate, difficult and horrible circumstances may not be removed from your life and the reason could be unknown to you until the end of your days.

However, even in these desperate times, we must cling to the faith we have in Christ and continue on.

Don’t keep your thoughts deep within that hole, but rather look up to the sky with hope, prayer and utmost praise – you might see the faint glimpse of a rope ladder falling from the sky.

Always remember, just because you are some place doesn’t mean you have to live there. This is merely a transient space, and we’re merely passing through.