Sure Wish Life Had a Fast-Forward Button On It
By Lorelle Hinote, as published in Gritty Faith: Wild (c) Purpose + Grit, LLC 2025
Have you ever felt like, Man, I really wish we could just fast forward through the gory parts of life like you can in a scary movie? So many of us have battled some hard stuff in our lives. We’ve lost loved ones way too soon, or we’ve had parents who have struggled with addiction our whole life, marriages have fallen apart, jobs have been lost, and lifelong dreams have been shattered. It’s so tempting to just throw in the towel and call it quits. But friends, please hear this . . . DON’T!
The first time I heard the song “I Made It” by CAIN, let’s just say I had a really good ugly cry in the car as I was driving. “Oh, I can’t believe the pain I’ve seen, but looking back, through every step, you never left, and I’m so thankful for that. I’m coming out the other side stronger, one foot in front of the other. Hands still raising, hands still praising. I made it, I made it, I made it!” In that moment, God knew I needed to hear those words. He knew I needed an anthem to cry out.
Because, well, last year was a tough year. A year filled with heartbreak and broken relationships. Some personally, and others that affected people I cared about, but I had no choice in. I just had to sit back and watch as someone else lit a match and walked away as it burned. I was tired, and I was discouraged. Have you been there? Maybe you are there right now. I pray that this song will serve as an anthem for you as well.
I can’t help but think about the story of Joseph. You know, the guy whose brothers plotted to kill him, but thought selling him into slavery was maybe a little less awful. Well, talk about someone who probably would have preferred to skip over some of the hard parts of his life. But God orchestrated all the details of his hardships to bring him to a position of power and importance later on. “And now don’t be grieved or angry with yourselves for selling me here, because God sent me ahead of you to preserve life” (Genesis 45:5 CSB). Sometimes those hardships bring us right to the very place God needs us to be, at just the right time.
It would have been so much easier if there had been a fast-forward button I could have pressed and just skipped right over the hard stuff that last year had to offer. But as hard as it was to go through, I actually would have missed out on some pretty amazing things that God had for me on the other side of it. “We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love” (Romans 5:3–5 NLT). The next time I am tempted to pray for a fast-forward button, I pray I will remember this season of hard, and remember this song. I remember this song. Because I truly have come out the other side stronger. Broken and battered? Yep, but stronger and still praising all the same.
God, I pray right now that even in our suffering, we will trust You. We will trust that the hardships of today are merely stepping stones to the good things You have for us in the future. God, please use the sufferings of today to bring us closer to You tomorrow! Amen.
