When Life Feels like a Whirlwind

Have you ever felt like you’re in the middle of a whirlwind? Like everything you thought you knew, all the plans and dreams you had, all the things you’d based your life on, were swirling around and threatening to crush you?

I have. It was not long after I turned eighteen. I’d just finished school, had my life and future all sorted out, and was happily and very confidently working toward that.

And then one thing after another crashed around me. The mission trip I’d clearly heard God tell me to go on got cancelled, my brother and sister-in-law lost the twins whose birth we’d all been excitedly anticipating, a short overseas trip came close to breaking me, and then, to top it all off, I was diagnosed with a chronic disease, which took my energy, my confidence and, for six months, my faith in God. I didn’t know who I was without God, or if I even had a future anymore.

Like Kenna, I felt like I was in the middle of a whirlwind, with life spinning totally out of control. And, like Kenna, I knew I couldn’t stay in it. I had to make a choice—trust God that He knew what he was doing and let go of my own agenda, or keep forging ahead with the dreams I’d clung to for so long. I’d like to say it was an easy decision. It wasn’t. At all. It took months of wrestling and testing everything I’d once thought certain to come to the point of admitting God was still God. And even then, my faith was still shaky for a while. It took a lot of choosing to trust, despite my feelings, to find that solid foundation again.

But here’s the thing: I found that foundation to be stronger than before. My faith was stronger too. And now, every time I feel like my world is tipping again, I have that time to look back on, and that faith and hope to hold on to. God even gave me back those dreams I’d thought dead, bigger and better than I could have ever imagined.

If you’re in a whirlwind right now, please don’t give up. Keep fighting, keep struggling through it, and hang in there. You are not alone. There is hope. All whirlwinds come to an end eventually. Life may not look exactly the same as it was before—likely it’ll look very, very different, and some things you once treasured might be gone, but that doesn’t have to be a bad thing. Maybe, like me, like Kenna, God is birthing a new dream in you. A dream that is bigger and more incredible than you ever dared to hope before.

Hang in there.