When the World Feels Heavy

Finding Peace in a Year That Has Stretched Us Thin

There’s no gentle way to say it, 2025 has felt heavy. The kind of heaviness that settles in your chest before your feet hit the floor. Everywhere we turn, someone we love is walking through a crisis, headlines keep breaking with no breath between them, and the question of what comes next goes unanswered.

I’m not a political person, but I’m not naive either. There’s conflict, chaos, and economic worries. We see division, anxiety, and talk of wars. There are storms in the world and in our own lives. With all the news and constant reminders of what we should care about, it’s easy to feel worn out. Our hope can start to fade.

I used to enjoy watching the news. It made me feel connected to the world beyond my front door. Now, it feels like stepping into a room where everything is on fire, and no one knows how to find the exits. There’s so much tragedy and fear, and so many problems that seem impossible to fix. If you feel weighed down by it all, know that you’re not alone.

Still, here we are, entering a season that promises peace on earth.

Peace on earth, even when our algorithms say otherwise.
Joy to the world, even when joy feels fragile. Yet, a Savior was born into a world just as messy, violent, and anxious as the one we live in.

This is the tension we face every day.
That’s why hope is even more important now. Hope involves both the belief that change is possible and the vision to see a path forward. It is the conviction that despite the chaos, there is a way to navigate through and create better outcomes.

Hope is not denial.
Hope is not pretending everything is fine.
Hope is the quiet, stubborn belief that even when the world shakes, God remains steady.

I think of Habakkuk, truly my favorite prophet this year, standing in the middle of disaster and saying, “Yet I will rejoice.” That’s not naïve. That’s not toxic positivity. That’s a soul choosing to anchor itself when everything around it refuses to calm down.

What I’m Into This Week

📖 READING: Prepare Him Room (Advent Devotional) by Susie Larson

🎧 PODCAST: REPEAT Our 10 Favorite Things This Christmas- Fearless Forward
We compiled a list of our favorite things just in time for Christmas. Episode includes discounts and a giveaway! 😉

🧴FIND: Lymphatic Cream and EVERYTHING from Rowe Casa Organics. Code: FEARLESS20 for 20% off

🤩 WATCHING: Call the Midwife - Netflix

I believe this is what we’re called to this year. Not to shut down or give up hope, but to find habits that bring us back to what’s true and help us stay steady. That might mean limiting how much doom-scrolling we take in, praying over the hardness of the news, picking one cause to support so we don’t feel overwhelmed, and making our homes places where peace is lived out, not just talked about.

Because the next generation is watching.
Our kids and grandkids are learning from us, not just by what we say about faith, but by how we live when the news is hard. What if the gift we gave this year was not wrapped boxes, but resilient hope? The kind that breathes deeply. The kind that steadies. The kind that says, “Even now, God is near.” Don’t get me wrong, sure we’ll wrap boxes, but the greatest gift we can give the future is our resiliency to hope no matter the circumstances.

So how can we encourage people who feel overwhelmed?
Sometimes, it’s just about being there for someone, not having all the answers. It can mean telling them, “You don’t have to carry this alone.” Sometimes, it’s quietly offering hope to someone else, even as we’re doing our best to hold ourselves together.

For me, hope grows when I focus on bringing light instead of letting darkness take over. I try to give more of my time, talents, and resources. I choose generosity, not because life is perfect, but because it matters most when things are hard. When the world feels dark, even a small act of kindness can feel like a miracle.

This holiday season, I want to be that light, and I invite you to join me. We don’t have to ignore the pain around us, but we can refuse to let it be the end of the story. Christ came into a world as broken as ours to show us that heaven’s peace is strong. It isn’t just for a season, and it doesn’t depend on good news.

It is steady.
It is always present.
And it belongs to us.

As we move further into Advent, let’s hold hope like a lantern in a dark hallway, lifting it high for ourselves and for those who come after us because the light grows bigger as we do. May this season be brighter, not because the world is calmer, but because we choose peace anyway.

I’m holding on to hope with you.
And I truly believe that God is still writing good stories, even here, even now, even in this year that has stretched us thin.

How are you holding on to hope today? What helps you find relief when the world feels heavy? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Michelle