Last week, I watched the 2026 World Cup Semi-Final.

England were playing. I felt nervous.

Let me be clear: I have never liked watching football.

I was not nervous because I needed them to win.

I was nervous because as I watched, pressure was almost visible.

I don’t know if you have ever experienced pressure… I put a lot of it on myself

I slap it on like suncream on a 32- degree day!

Must parent to perfection.

Must preach without stumbling.

Must be a flawless wife.

Of course, my thoughts are more subtle than the above; yet those beliefs are often evident in my actions.

This week, for instance, I have experienced what I have called “shame pangs”.

This is a term I have coined for when I have said something that I regret. Shame PANGS randomly, after the vulnerable incident. The pangs can last for days… weeks, even.

Yesterday, I was sitting on a Welsh beach with my lovely family when – in an attempt to put an end to this week’s shame pangs – I turned to my Bible.

Picture me: Sat on a blue camp chair, toes in sand, with a very large, brown study Bible… opened up to the glossary!

A sea breeze was causing my thin Bible pages to shake. Instead of enjoying a good ol’ sandcastle build, I was trying to find any mentions of “shame” in the text.

“Give me a verse God,” I prayed.

“Take these shame pangs away!”

God did remind me of a verse. The Holy Spirit brought a verse to my mind, instantly.

And, do you know what? It was one that has been going through my mind the week before I even preached:

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;

His mercies never come to an end;

They are new every morning;

Great is your faithfulness.

Lamentations 3:22-23, ESV.

Guys, I don’t know about you, but I can often get so swept up in BIG feelings.

Shame pangs feel BIG. They are like waves of anxiety, almost flashback-eque in nature. I feel sick and I often put my hands on my head, or over my eyes.

Steadfast love on the other hand… it is firm, unwavering, constant. Not up and then down. Not unsure and then a bit-more sure.

Sometimes, I don’t feel steadfast love.

Sometimes, I just have to trust it is there.

Sometimes I simply have to believe it is with me, even as I experience these PANGS of yucky shame. At that very moment. Not when the waves have passed, or I have fixed my issue with shame.

Steadfast love never, ever ceases. It never ever gives up.

Isn’t that what we all want, but dare not ask for: Someone who loves us in our yuckiest moments?

Look at the end of verse 23: God’s faithfulness is great.

Unsurpassed. Extreme. Long and continued*.

In other words: God’s faithfulness is a lot bigger than my shame pangs. God’s faithfulness is a lot bigger than any pressure I could ever put on myself.

Annoyingly, it doesn’t always feel big. I want a big feeling of faithfulness to swallow moments of anxiety, pressure and shame.

Yet sometimes I just have to trust that which is unseen and eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:18.)

What do you think trusting God looks like?

I have to be honest with you: I don’t actually think trusting God looked like me, with my brown Bible on a windy beach.

I actually think that – in that moment – trusting God would have looked like resting in the present.

– Maybe walking to the sea, with my littlest, who kept repeating: “I love beach, Mummy!”

– Maybe noticing shells on the sand, collecting them as “treasure, Mummy.”

– Maybe appreciating a good coffee and an even better view.

We get these little grace-gifts, though we do not deserve them.

Our sin deserved punishment, yet Jesus took the punishment for us on the cross (mercy). He instead gifts us with freedom and abundant life with Him (grace).

Perhaps you are trying to fix some big feelings.

Shame. Shock. Waves of intense sorrow.

What if, to remedy those big feelings, we simply need to trust God’s steadfast, yet surprising, love?

Feel those pangs and trust grace anyway.

What if accepting grace looks like being present?

Slow and steady. No drama. Little moments of gifted love. Ours for the taking.

I am more than tempted to end this post with a few lines from Justin Bieber’s, Everything Hallelujah.

Bieber is onto something! Instead of trying to fix things, we get to accept God’s love with a simple: “Hallelujah!” Which means: “Praise the Lord!”

Praise the Lord; His faithfulness is bigger than my shame.

Praise the Lord; Loud worry could never silence His constant love.

Praise the Lord; His grace can be found right where you are.

Let me know in the comments if you have ever suffered shame pangs and tried to combat them.

(*These are dictionary definitions from Cambridge and Merriam Webster.)