So, How Are You Doing?
The scene is too numerous to count. My daughter Stephanie and I are enjoying a girls’ day out shopping, we pull up to the register with our cart, and she asks the cashier, “So, how are you doing?” Then she waits.
Was it the tender way she asked the question? Maybe they could see kindness in her eyes. Whatever the reason, time and again, I would watch their eyes fill with tears as a story of pain escapes their lips.
As she listens, weeping turns to joy. And for a moment, they are seen, heard, free.
I have experienced the power of this simple question many times.
In 2019 my husband was hospitalized with double pneumonia brought on by mold exposure. Stephanie knew I had been pushing through taking care of Steve and caring for my dad while fighting a severe upper respiratory infection myself. To say I was bone tired is an understatement.
One day I got a phone call from Steph, informing me she was on her way to help. No arguing.
She arrived just in time. The hospital was getting ready to release Steve.
Steph and I went to the pharmacy to pick up some medicine. We had just stepped out of our car when she dropped the question. She peeked over the top of the car, one eyebrow slightly raised, her deep blue eyes penetrating my soul, and asked, “How are you doing?”
I lost it. The dam of survival I had built around my heart crumbled as tears flooded my face.
In times of uncertainty, when the world we have known is spinning out of control, can I be so bold as to ask, “How are you doing?”
You, like me, may find yourself on a roller coaster ride of emotions on any given day. The day starts with your feet firmly planted in faith. Then the twists and turns brought on by the latest round of world news, doctor reports, or crisis at work or home, leave you feeling like your faith is free-falling into fear.
When this happens, it is the perfect time to pause and ask yourself, “How am I doing?” Better yet, let’s take a cue from David in Psalms 139. Let’s ask God to reveal how we are doing.
God, I invite your searching gaze into my heart.
Examine me through and through; find out everything that may be hidden within me.
Put me to the test and sift through all my anxious cares.
See if there is any path of pain I'm walking on,
and lead me back to your glorious, everlasting ways—
the path that brings me back to you.
Dear friends, now more than any other time in our recent history, it is time to rise and be found faithful to the Faithful One. The only way for us to do that is to lean into the Word and practices of our Father. To allow His gaze to search us, to sort through all our fears and anxieties. Why?
Soul searching is always about freedom from the chains that hold us back. Freedom provides the ability to walk through our temporary trials with eternal hope. A hope that understands our momentary sufferings are working in us an everlasting glory that will outlast the current crisis staring us down.
Isn’t that what God wants for us, that we would walk freely in the light of His eternal hope?
Cleere Cherry says in her book Be Still, “Living in our hope is the most powerful sermon we could ever give. It is the decision to believe in God, to trust Him with our future, and to walk forward, fully confident that He is at work. A steel-like hope that is what He wants for us.”
So, I ask again, “How are you doing?”
Perhaps it is time to pause, push away from the news of the day, and sit with the giver of the Good News. Invite Him to gaze into your eyes and search your heart. Let Him set you free from whatever holds you back from walking in His eternal hope. A lasting hope. An unshakeable hope. A hope planted in the heart of the One who holds our tomorrows.
Barb
This is so good ! I’ve had similar experiences asking that question of servers , cashiers, and others I have met. I’ve gotten many honest answers of pain and hard times they are going through. I’ve been able to pray with some and a lot are single moms struggling to take care of their kids with no time to take care of themselves. Thanks for this reminder to never quit asking “How are you doing?” and then be genuinely interested in their reply ! Love you and your writings E. 💞
Evelyn Sherwood
Thanks for sharing, friend. Living with a kingdom vision is being aware and engaged with the hurting around us, and that requires slowing down to really see. This is something God has been working in my life.
Steven R Sherwood
Beautiful.
Evelyn Sherwood
Thanks 🙂
Amanda Griffith
Amen! I needed this today! I have hope because He is faithful and doing a work in my life and my precious husband! ❤️🙌🙌🙌
Evelyn Sherwood
Praying for you and your husband, my friend.