The Lesson in Failing

Think for a moment about the time when you felt like nothing else could go wrong. Imagine how hard it was to see past the moment, the day, or the month that seemed to encompass one bad thing after the other. You may have felt like you'd had enough. You may have felt like the weight of it all was crushing you. You may have even felt like there was nothing that you could do except stop. Stop living that is. Stop the action that required you to experience so much hardship and pain.

I remember being in that space. I was wrapped up in the circumstances that produced one negative feeling after the next. I was so far into my feelings that I thought the world would be better without me. For several days I cried and asked God to just take me. Take me and let me be done with living a life where I was nothing more than a failure. Take me and let me be free of the constant adversity and turmoil that I faced.

That was the lowest point of my life, but it was not because of what was happening around me. It was the lowest point because I had decided on the way that I wanted God to solve the problem. I was so wrapped up in me that I thought it was ok to give up with God's help. I was afraid to commit suicide, but I was not afraid of asking God to end my life. 

I asked Him over and over to let me go, allow me to give up the fight that I didn't want to win. Let me go so that I could still the rush of my own expectations. Let me go so that I could end what I was sure He had erred in even allowing to begin.

Clearly, God had different plans. He didn't allow me to give up. What He did was gave me the space to see how much of the trial I had already made it through. He gave me the space to see that there could be glory in the midst the storm if I let Him help me. He gave me the space to see that it was ok that I failed. It wasn't the end of the world or even near it. It was only His way of helping me learn how to fight.

Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father?

Hebrews 12:7

Adayinthelife :-)

Ready Or Not

I haven't met many people who haven't played hide and seek at some point in their life. It is one of the easiest games played during childhood. One person closes their eyes and counts while everyone else runs and hides. Once the counter reaches the agreed upon number, he/she shouts ready or not here I come and runs looking for the hiders. Meanwhile, those hiding do their best to remain hidden until they can safely make it back to home base. 

I witnessed a group of kids playing this game just a few days ago. Some of the hiders went to great lengths to cover themselves with other objects or camouflage themselves into the surrounding landscape. One young girl appeared bored with the game and decided to hide in plain sight. Though she didn't have anything hiding her, she stood completely frozen until hearing "ready or not here I come".

Those children made me think about how many of us never stopped playing hide and seek. We adapted it to fit into our adult, Christian lives. We designated God as the counter and we ran and hid. Some of us went to great lengths to hide the fact that we know God is real. We cover ourselves in every label that the world has to offer being very careful not to stand out and look like someone who belongs to God. Others are better at camouflaging. We have no trouble hiding among the sinners or the saints. Our skill is knowing when and how to blend in. Then, there are those who have become too complacent to even attempt to hide from God. We go about each day without a care or thought for the expectations of God or man.

The interesting thing is, we have adapted our lives to the game without remembering the real premise. The objective of the counter is to catch someone to be in their position. He/She seeks to tag someone to give them the power to seek out those who are hiding. This is perfect when we see the counter as God because He is in fact looking for us to be just like Him. He's looking for those who are tired of hiding and being concealed by the world. He's looking for those who will chase after others until everyone seeks to return to their heavenly home. I hear Him shouting....  

Ready or not
Here I Come

The question is how good have you become at hiding?

Adayinthelife :-)

Happily Ever After

I don't often find myself speaking about my ex-fiance' and in truth this is not really an attempt to speak about him now. This is more of a reflection on what I knew then about happily ever after as opposed to what I know now. I used to think that my happiness was found inside of a person. Being engaged and then choosing not to get married taught me that my happiness had nothing to do with how good I was treated or how much a person loved me. 

You see I had that. He treated me better than I ever imagined another person could. He loved me beyond the scope of what I knew love to be, but I was not happy. I was staring a wedding date in the face, but I couldn't find my way to happily ever after. It took me a very long time to realize that it had nothing to do with him.

I knew enough to know there was no reason to blame him. He hadn't done anything wrong. He was kind and compassionate. He was the model for what I always thought happily ever after would be. However, I had not learned what it meant to be happy. 

We tend to think that happiness is a feeling that we have when we are pleased with something, but that isn't happiness. We also think that happiness comes by way of things like money, houses, clothes, or cars. Those things do not constitute happiness either. My favorite thought used to be that happiness was about what I had received be it tangible or more simplistic like attention. But I am here to tell you that true happiness has nothing to do with any of that at all.

Happiness is found in the quiet moments that we spend listening to God. It is in the moments that we spend in prayer or the time spent reading the word. Happiness is in the time that we spend in complete submission to God and His will. As Mr. Carr says, happiness is the assurance that the outcome will be Godly. Until you have that assurance, there is no way that you will find happily ever after. You will simply be chasing a feeling that will never be enough to fill the space that God is supposed to occupy in your heart.

Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind.

Philippians 2:1-2

Adayinthelife :-)

Stop, Look, and Listen

In recent years, I've heard Christian brothers and sisters say "why bother to even get married when you know it is likely to end in divorce?" There is very little that can mask my utter and complete sadness at hearing that and knowing that there are so many who view marriage with the same lens as they do divorce.

The more that I think about divorce, I wonder do my Christian brothers and sisters really examine the choice to divorce? Do they bother to stop, look, and listen before deciding that divorce is the solution to whatever it is that is plaguing their relationship? Or do Christians just go along with the world's process of feeling like divorce is a necessary end when difficulties arise in marriage? If I could I would challenge Christians to

Stop

Completely suspend the motion of moving forward . As simple as it is, many find it challenging just to stop. Stop arguing. Stop dissecting. Stop looking for a way to fix it or not. Stop long enough to remember to wait on the Lord. Wait for Him if it means being still for five minutes or five days. Wait for Him to stop the thought that has you moving in the direction to end what He Himself brought together. 

I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.”

Lamentations 3:24

I would then challenge them to 

Look 

Open both of your spiritual eyes to see the Lord standing before you in the form of that man or that woman that somehow you have decided to divorce. Look and see the God in their walk. Look and see the God in their laugh or the way that they make themselves available to serve others. Look beyond the eyes, nose, and mouth that used to make you smile and see the spirit of the one true living God.

No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

1 John 4:12

Lastly, I would challenge them to 

Listen

Listen to the voice of the Shepherd directing you to draw near to Him. Listen to the promises that are all throughout His word. Listen to His commands to do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Listen to His command to love one another. Listen intently to His assurance to never leave you nor forsake you and remember that when you were joined together in marriage you took the same stand.

Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; do not fret when people succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes.

Psalm 37:7

Adayinthelife :-)