The Middle

By Andrew Robbins

Have you ever just wanted to be in a different situation or set of circumstances than what you may find yourself in? You aren’t the only one. All too often, when we find ourselves in challenging times, in times of great stress and powerlessness, we can wish to be through it. To be done with what we are struggling with and be alright. It might not even be something we are struggling with, but just a period of time where we don’t feel like ourselves. I had a patient recently describe this as “wanting to skip to the middle”.

As I discussed with them, you can’t just skip to the middle. Mainly because no one can really say that they have nothing to go off of as we work towards being past whatever we are going through. Everything we have ever experienced has led us to where we are right now and it is those experiences that we can draw upon, even if there isn’t a direct parallel between our experiences and our current situations. Secondly, we discussed how skipping to the middle is a lot like knowing how to effectively perform surgery without any medical training. The more we experience and work to effectively address what we are struggling with, the better able we are to develop new ways to address our stressors and distressing circumstances.

Paul puts it like this in Romans 5:2–5 “Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”

Essentially, as we are faced with hardships, challenges, and changes in how we see ourselves, we grow. That growth might be like that of a plant hibernating during winter; unseen and enduring. The plant doesn’t just die and reappear. Its roots are still present, providing needed nutrition until the time is right for the stalk to breach the soil and begin to bloom. It’s instinctual and it can be difficult to trust in our instincts when we are struggling. That is where hope and support come into play. Hope in God’s and support from both the Holy Spirit and from those that are trusted sources of nutrients to our souls.