Hallelujah In The Hallway

“Is all creation groaning?

(It is)

Is a new creation coming?

(It is)

Is the glory of the Lord to be the light within our midst?

(It is)

Is it good that we remind ourselves of this?

(It is)”

I was listening to Keith and Kristyn Getty’s version of “Is He Worthy?” the other night as I got ready for bed and this verse stuck out to me. I had just finished doing my physical therapy exercises to help with the nerve problems in my legs and lower back. It was the first night I had been able to do them in a while as I sustained a concussion a couple months ago and was unable to exercise much. The lack of exercise combined with some accidental dietary and clothing missteps had brought me back to a place of fairly significant discomfort, and I found myself discouraged.

These exercises do not kick in over night, as it takes time to calm my nerves down after I’ve unintentionally aggravated them. I guess you could say I can, quite literally, get on my last nerve! So I went to bed that night knowing I would probably have some trouble falling asleep due to the distracting symptoms. And I wondered for the thousandth time if God would allow me to see full healing from this on this side of heaven. He didn’t answer that question but He gave me the lyrics to this song.

“Is all creation groaning? It is.” I wholeheartedly believe that we all have experienced this groaning personally. Grief and physical struggles cause us to groan. And, for those who know the Lord, we groan not only in pain but in the deep desire to see everything made new. To see the new creation that is coming. The day when God will wipe every tear from our eyes. The day when the glory of our Lord and Savior will be the light within our midst. I realized that night just how good it is to remind myself of this. To see my groaning body as the opportunity to remind myself that that day is coming. To remind myself to not lose heart.

A phrase I came across on Instagram a few weeks ago has been running through my mind on a seemingly constant cycle. “Until God opens the next door, praise Him in the hallway.” Right now, I’m in a hallway. I entered this hallway on July 8, 2020 when my legs went numb. And since then, God has been faithfully teaching me what it means to remind myself of the hope that He’s given me. The hope of eternity with Him in a new creation. A creation without groaning. I have to wonder if I would remember so often to think on this hope if I didn’t have the reminder from my nerve symptoms each day. And so I find myself oddly thankful for this trial.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m still praying for full healing and I’ll be the first to jump up and down (literally) for joy if He heals me on this side of heaven. But for now, I hope to learn how to sing “Hallelujah” in the hallway. And for anyone walking through one of life’s hallways, whether it be one of grief or physical struggle or waiting on a dream to come true, I would like to encourage you to ask the Lord to teach you how to praise Him in the hallways of life.

“Is He worthy? Is He worthy?

Of all blessing and honor and glory

Is He worthy of this?

He is”

“So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.” - 2 Corinthians 4:16-18