Joy Krajicek

How to Fight the Helplessness of Suffering

THE STRUGGLE

Working alongside people who suffer enormously, much more than the average first world complaints, can create a level of helplessness. I can’t fix everything. I can’t force people to make choices I believe are better or best for their lives. 

I try to be present in moments of conversation, prayer and assistance. Yet, in the back of my head, there is always a desire to do more. Why can’t things change faster? Why can’t the pain and suffering disappear with a snap of my fingers?

I have these thoughts after late nights on the streets when sleep evades me. I want to see more for the women I encounter. I want them to experience a different life. They do too. Even still, the chasm between their reality and their hopes and dreams feels impossible to overcome on those sleepless nights. 

THE HOPE WE HAVE

What keeps me going despite these late night questions? 

The truth about resurrection. At the core of my faith in Christ is a promise of hope and new life. What appears to be too far gone, too dark, too dead, can still be brought back to life. In other words, new life is possible. The cross and the resurrection of Jesus show us that things are not always as they appear, what we see is not all there is and the future does not always look the way we expect.

Can you imagine being a disciple when Jesus was arrested, beaten and then hung on the cross? All hope was lost. The plans for the future dashed. How devastating it must’ve been for them! Then, a few days later, something better than they could’ve dreamed took place. Jesus came back to life and changed everything.

Sometimes the work I do seems like the middle time between death and resurrection. Thankfully, what I currently see is not all there is. The story doesn’t end in the middle.

Because of my faith, when I speak with women in dire situations, whether they comprehend it or not, I represent resurrection hope and power that is available to them. God can change their situation. What seems impossible is possible—in the smallest and biggest of ways. This hope we have in Christ is for you, for me and for everyone!

I pray we carry this hope and the power of resurrection today into every situation we face. May we be encouraged that what seems dead can be resurrected. Jesus is working even in the middle. 

The Reason Letting Go is Vital in Relationships

THE STORY

One Sunday afternoon, my father—a pastor at the time—came home from church and shared with the family some news about a beloved couple. 

They were leaving. 

The news crushed my family with a wave of disappointment and discouragement. There are people one may wish would leave the church and there are others one hope’s will never leave. This couple was the latter not the former. I immediately thought about all the ways their presence would be sorely missed. Then quickly, I thought of attendance numbers and how frustrating it is to lose such great people when we were finally on an upward swing of momentum. 

My father continued to share how a great job opportunity had presented itself, how it seemed like the right time to move for this couple. My mind was racing and my dad’s words left me flabbergasted. 

“Why didn’t he encourage them to stay? We need them here! Is this really God’s will when there is so much to be done in this city?” I thought to myself. 

I focused on the hole they would leave, not the benefits this new opportunity offered for them. My dad’s response to this obviously sad news left me amazed. How could he just let them go without trying to convince them to stay?

Love.

Love and care for his church family, concern for their wellbeing more than how it would impact his work, the church, and so on. My dad saw the good for those he loved despite the cost it would bring to him personally. 

THE LESSON

The much younger me wanted to control and keep everyone around, so that the church could flourish. I missed entirely the point of what the Church is and how real love works. Love lets them go when it is time. Love serves and gives continually even when the investment benefits others more than oneself.

THE CHALLENGE

This lesson applies far beyond the relationship of a pastor with a congregation. Even if ministry is not our vocation, life offers many opportunities to love others when it isn’t beneficial for us. We have the choice to either control or let go. Sadly, we use God’s name to wield power over people instead of seeing with His eyes and discerning what He is doing in the lives of others. We aren’t good at letting go; in other words, we aren’t good at loving others. 

THE QUESTION

Where do you need to love someone enough to let them go today? 

Why Listening to Your “Old” Music is Good for You

A REMINDER

While hanging out with a friend last week, music played quietly in the background. Suddenly, the fun, lively music was replaced with a sweet melody of worship (“Simplicity” by Rend Collective). Oh random shuffle and all its delights.

The specific song that softly began to play quickly transported me back to a season I would not care to revisit. Each word sung revived forgotten moments of tearful worship and honest words with God. 

Painful seasons do not come in a one-size-fits-all format. Even still, songs can mark these moments in our lives like altars of remembrance. They can act as anchors during the troubled times.

A DIFFICULT PRAYER

As the song continued to play, another memory revived itself. A few years ago, one line in particular had been annoying to me. 

“Lord, strip it all away ’til only You remain.” 

These words were too real, too raw to pray at one point in my life. I was not amused or enthused that these words were coming to life without my permission. I’d often skip that line and sing all the rest while thinking, “You’ve stripped enough, Lord. People who sing that line don’t know what they are asking!”

We pray difficult prayers in easy seasons without realizing the magnitude of the words we pray. “Take me deeper where my trust is without borders” (“Oceans” by Hillsong United). Are you sure that is your prayer? Deeper trust and greater endurance are most often the fruit of intense pain and serious pruning.

A GRATEFUL HEART

Yet, last week, something remarkable happened when I heard this memory-filled song. While the melody sent me back to days gone by, it also became a new altar of remembrance. I am no longer stuck in that painful season. What a relief to acknowledge that even though circumstances haven’t changed, I HAVE CHANGED! God pruned and there is new life, new growth coming forth. 

We are often ignorant of how far we’ve come until something triggers a memory of what once was. Since that sacred musical moment last week, I’ve been singing that song with joy and thanksgiving. “Suffering is never for nothing” as Elisabeth Elliot says. I can see it today and I hope you can see it in your own life as well. God is at work and we are not what we once were. Hallelujah. 

A CHALLENGE

When you have a free moment, why not select an old playlist or album and take a trip down memory lane. It might surprise you what you’ll discover.

A Vital Lesson from a Young Woman’s Prayer

Praying Together

Recently during a time of prayer, a young woman lifted up her voice to God. She is blessed with an outward beauty, but as she voiced her prayer, the hidden beauty of her heart became evident as well. She expressed a sweet anthem to the God who deserves all adoration. Her prayer was in fact praise.

Not surprisingly, hearing her heartfelt prayer brought tears to my eyes.

Truth be told, these are not easy words to say in her current situation. She has struggled and continues to struggle. Her story is not mine to tell, but life has been disproportionately unfair to her. Despite her circumstances and the many reasons she could’ve abandoned God, she has not let go. Through it all, it is clear that God has not let go of her either. 

Question: Are we allowing discomforts and difficulties to silence our praise to God?

I am challenged by her sweet words of praise and worship. Even when life throws its worst punches, I long to remain steadfast. I want to remain full of trust when circumstances force me to ask the toughest questions about God. Even when life brings with it many bruises and burns, I want to lift up beautiful anthems of praise.

Today I am reminded that if this young woman can praise God, so can I. If she will choose to praise God, so will I.  

Prayer

Lord, no matter what we face this week, help us to choose to worship you. You already warned us that life would bring trouble and difficulty. Help us to face the challenging moments this week with a healthy dose of worship. You don’t want us to ignore the pain, but you also don’t want us to forget that you are on the throne. So, today, we declare that all glory and honor belongs to you. You are good even when life is not. Today, we choose to worship You. Amen.

God, Keep Her Safe

I find myself whispering a little prayer these days. No doubt it’s because I am regularly in contact with women in some of the worst conditions on the streets. My heart strings are tugged, even ripped out, because of situations I see and hear. My prayer, without even being conscious of it until recently, has become a basic request throughout my day.

A little girl on her way to school is bundled up in a scarf and coat and I whisper in my heart:

God, keep her safe.

A lovely teen is surrounded by boys on the tram and I silently pray:

God, keep her safe.

A woman stands on the street corner with a deep pain evident on her face and I say:

God, keep her safe.

Asking God to protect women in every stage of life, the young and the old, the weak and the strong, is not a bad prayer to pray. Prayers of protection are found throughout scripture. My work let’s me encounter too many who have not been kept safe from evil.

I want to pray God’s protection over as many as I can and be a source of protection for those within my reach. I will, along with many other requests for these women, say a simple prayer that comes from deep within me.

God, keep them safe.

“The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.” -Psalm 18:2

What the Church Gets Horribly Wrong about Singleness

“You are so cute, why are you still single?” 

I received this question countless times when I first was heading overseas and raising support in churches. While it was meant as a compliment, it gave me a complex. “Is something wrong with me? Why am I not married yet? 

There I was, trying to follow God no matter my relationship status, and each time the question arrived, there was an underlying message—you should already be married by now.  

Cuteness is not a guarantee for marriage, I suppose.

Fast forward a few years, I returned back home for a second round of support raising. This time there were less questions about marriage. Perhaps many already assumed that my “expiration date” had passed. There was a time or two, however, when I did get an exasperated person asking:

“Don’t you WANT to be married!?!” 

There was an assumption that I was running from marriage. My answer was always, “Yes. I’d LOVE to be married. I’m not sure, aside from my vocational choices, why I’m still…not.” 

We have expectations in the Church. Expectations that everyone will eventually marry. My dad used to say, “There is someone for everyone.” I’ve been questioning for a while now if that’s true, at least in the Church. I know far too many singles who haven’t found their someone yet. 

The older I get, the more I wonder about the Church’s message—spoken and unspoken—to singles. Are we, as the Church, teaching singles to THRIVE—to live and lead from a place of healthy singleness? 

 In his book, Emotionally Healthy Leader, Peter Scazzero rocked my world in his discussion on this topic. Before reading his book, I never put the words “healthy” and “singleness” together in a sentence. What does “healthy singleness” even mean? I don’t want to be single, so I don’t need a healthy singleness!

 To help us, we could rephrase the question like this: 

  • Are we teaching singles “not [to] over function…at the expense of living a healthy and balanced single life” (EHL 89)? 
  • Are we helping our single friends and family members see that a “key factor…in discovering God’s will…is the impact it will have on [his/her] ability to live a whole, rich, and healthy single life” (EHL 89)? 

Sometimes we say one thing and our actions say another. “Singles can do more for God” becomes an opportunity for churches to abuse singles and overwork them, while encouraging couples to foster a healthy marriage by taking time for themselves. We think about healthy marriages; we don’t often think of healthy singleness. No wonder why many singles are unhappy in the Church!

In this day and age when there are more singles than ever before in our culture, we need to do a better job at celebrating singleness, even if it isn’t the desired outcome most dream of. We need to be loving and serving singles by asking them:

  • Are you taking care of yourself—physically, emotionally, spiritually, etc.? 
  • Are you fostering a healthy, intimate relationship with God?
  • It’s harder to stay connected to others who don’t live with you, how are your relationships with close family and friends?

Let’s commit, as the Church, to promote healthy marriages AND healthy singleness! 

Welcome to my blog!

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Hi, my name is Joy.

I’ve decided to start a blog (again). I love to write down what I’m learning and thinking about. I’m here to share it with whoever wants to read it. The internet can be a toxic place, but it can also be a wonderful place for community and friendship. Of course, this type of internet community could never replace face to face contact, but it can be a way to make new friends and enhance our lives. So, I’m here online to make new friends, share what I’m discovering and learn from people like you who are reading this blog!

Welcome to my journey of finding joy in the many ways that can be interpreted when your name is Joy!