Sometimes we feel like we can’t watch a break. As though some unnamed deity is casting terrible fortune on us, or is simply squishing us under a mighty thumb. We look around at everyone else, moving through life with never failing bliss as they a rewarded with gifts. Those gifts are always in the form of green paper, which become crumpled in their overflowing pockets. It’s easy to watch, to observe this life and wonder, why? Why am I the only one who doesn’t have? Why does this always happen to me? When things break, and maintaining your standard of living becomes harder and harder, our hearts become more hardened. We resent life and the hills it has thrown our way. What about comfort? We work so hard and see nothing for it. This sends us plunging into a pool of self pity and abandons us flailing around in our sorrow. Then we start to accept that our life simply sucks and we should just give up. We realize that we are alone, and no one could really understand our hearts and struggles. No one knows how it feels, no one knows what I’m going through.
Lies.
This whole thought process is one I’ve dealt with my self and it is riddled with lies. It is one of Satan’s greatest tricks as he blinds us to truth and then makes us feel alone in our pain. Sometimes we need to be punched in the face with perspective. Sometimes we need to be reminded of the truths that we let our own self pity blind us to.
I write this post not to belittle our hurts and struggles, but to simply shift perspective.
Chances are you have eaten today, and you can most likely feed your family. Your kids have been busy lately? Well, you know where you’re family is. Your car isn’t working or has problems? At least you are able to own one. Your household appliances aren’t working? Congratulations, you have electricity! You’ve missed some work this year because of the flu? You’re not dying of AIDS. You’ve been fighting with your kids a lot lately? They weren’t ripped from you and forced to be child soldiers or sex slaves. You don’t agree with your town building a new school? You’re kids can go to school. It’s snowing again?! At least it’s not bombings and rebellion.
I could go on.
My point in writing this is not to say that we can’t feel as humans. It sucks when the fridge stops working and I don’t have the money to fix it. But the point is, we get stuck in believing that we are tortured and that there is no hope. That life isn’t worth living. When we look around at the world around us, at what people in places like Haiti, Philippines, Syria, and many countries in Africa, our problems are not hopeless. They suck, but they are not worth giving up for. The biggest struggle is changing that attitude and allowing God to be enough in our lives. It doesn’t mean that we will spend every day in some euphoric state of happiness. But it means that even within the struggles and the pain, we will still experience joy because joy comes from God alone, and is not dependent on circumstance. It means that our own suffering does not blind us from the world around us but moves us to help. It just helps keep our lives in perspective so that we can take on challenges with strength.
2 Cor 12:9 “For My grace is sufficient for you, and My strength is made perfect in weakness.”
I’m so sick of hearing that God will never give you more than you can handle. FALSE. God will sometimes give us more than we can handle so that we can rely on His strength. But God also gave us each other, and expects us to help those around us. Everywhere.