With the state of exhaustion and discouragement he’s seen in his church, the Rev. Gabe Casciato, family life pastor at CrossWay Evangelical Free Church, has decided to lead a class to help those stumbling disoriented into January.

“All that change that hits at once — anytime you have change — that’s a stressor in and of itself,” Casciato said. “We take a great stock in the wellbeing of our community. That sense of discouragement or just being overwhelmed, that’s something we take seriously.”

Starting Jan. 10, he will be offering four sessions live over YouTube to understand some of the questions that those of faith and those unsure of their faith are asking: “Where is God when life is hard?”

Casciato wants those people to know that God has a lot to say about hardship and where he is in the midst of it.

“So many have this understanding that if you’re suffering, you must’ve done something wrong,” he said. “That’s the opposite of what scripture teaches. … We worship a God who suffered on a cross — that should’ve been a giveaway.”

This year, school arrangements, parental schedules and finances have taken the brunt of 2020’s lashes, causing many to rethink their spiritual life and what role it should play in their daily lives.

“It’s provoked a lot of really beneficial reflection on the resources that spirituality offers,” Casciato said of perhaps the only silver lining to come from the pandemic, particularly in first world countries that take many everyday resources like food storage, internet connections and health insurance for granted.

Nearly every study on resiliency, he said, shows that faith is a key asset in the ability to bounce back from hard times — but not everybody knows how to tap into that faith. Casciato said even those without religion or faith, in tragedies, often find the language of faith and the concept of leaning on something larger than yourself a key to recovery.

The National Guard chaplain, who has served on annual trips to Nepal and India, said that the resources and technology at the average American’s disposal “lulls us into a sense of control that maybe is a bit illusionary.”

When you don’t have to think about how you’ll store food for a few days on lockdown, your perspective might be different than the rural Asian villager with no refrigerator or means to Zoom into work meetings.

“Maybe we don’t have as much control over our environment as we thought we did,” he said. “Maybe we’re more dependent on God and factors outside of our control than we’d like to admit. Since we have so much control over our environment, we don’t recognize a need for the divine.”

Simply put, when you have other things to lean on, God might not be the first one you turn to.

And for younger generations in particular, which make up about half of CrossWay’s congregation, the pastor said the pandemic is one of the first sustained, difficult landmark periods they’ve experienced, making recovery even more challenging without the muscle memory of events like The Great Depression or World War II.

“I don’t think we’ve seen anything on a scale like this to force everyone to take stock,” he said.

Another question the pastor will reflect on in his classes is what it means to love your neighbor when times require more than making a casserole or mowing their lawn.

“Now, it’s ‘do I love my neighbor enough to be uncomfortable,'” he said. “That’s a whole new way of looking at the question because it requires more of us. It requires love in intangible ways — and love does cost.”

To participate in Bouncing Back from 2020 and learn how you can help process the old year before beginning a new one, register at crosswayfd.org. Though registration is not required for participation, supplemental material for the classes will be distributed online to those registered. Classes will be streamed on the church’s YouTube page, and streams will include a phone number for viewers to text questions while watching.