Everything is not okay.
I often hear the phrase “Everything is okay” or “Everything will be ok”, spoken as a kind of conviction that’s meant to comfort. But many times through life, I have wondered why it doesn’t feel true. Why, despite knowing God is good and faithful, the ache inside hadn’t disappeared. Why the weight of unspoken burdens feel so heavy, why these words that don’t reflect what I am carrying. And I can’t help but think: everything is not okay. Not in my life, not in the lives of people I love, not in the world as I see it. There’s so much hurt, so much confusion. There’s still loss. Still fear. Still questions I’ve prayed about a thousand times that remain unanswered.
We love to say “God is in control,” and those words aren’t wrong – they’re just often misunderstood. Yes, He is sovereign. He is the beginning and the end, the Alpha and Omega. He holds the entire universe in His hands and not one detail escapes His notice. But that doesn’t mean our lives always feel stable or peaceful. It doesn’t mean we don’t wake up some mornings already feeling defeated. Knowing God is in control doesn’t erase the daily struggle to keep going, to push through anxiety, depression, and grief. His sovereignty is not a magic spell that makes pain disappear – it is an anchor when the waves crash. A steady hand in the chaos, not a guarantee that the storm will stop.
Sometimes, what we’re walking through feels so heavy that even holding onto hope feels like a full-time job. We smile at our coworkers, take care of our families, do the dishes, show up for others – all while quietly fighting invisible battles. The past doesn’t stay in the past. It follows us into our present, influencing how we think, how we react, how we carry our stories forward. We may believe in healing, believe in restoration, believe that God is making all things new – but that doesn’t mean the weight of life disappears. That we don’t still struggle to believe those truths on the hard days. And there are so many hard days.
God doesn’t promise to erase what happened to us. He doesn’t promise that we’ll forget or that we’ll never feel the sting of those wounds again. He promises presence. He promises to walk with us through the valleys, to never leave or forsake us. And in some seasons, that feels like everything. But in others, if we’re honest, it feels like not enough. Because sometimes, we want deliverance, not just companionship. We want resolution, not just endurance. And yet, He keeps showing up. In the quiet moments when no one else sees our tears. In the late-night hours when our thoughts spiral. In the quiet whisper that tells us we are not alone, even when we feel like we are.
Faith doesn’t mean we’re always strong. It doesn’t mean we’ve figured it all out or that we never question why things happened the way they did. Faith means we hold on. We trust that He is who He says He is, even when it doesn’t feel like it. We bring Him our honest hearts, our worn-out souls, and our shattered pieces. We don’t hide behind the phrase “everything is okay” because He never asked us to. What He asks is that we come to Him as we are – messy, hurting, uncertain – and let Him be God in the middle of it.
Everything is not okay. Not today. Maybe not tomorrow either. But He is still here. Still good. Still working. Still holding us, even when it doesn’t feel like enough. And maybe, just maybe, for today, that’s all we need. Not to have it all figured out. Not to fix everything. But to rest in the quiet assurance that even when everything is not okay – He is.
Rebecca Does Life 