When I was a kid, I vividly remember playing a game called LIFE. The object of said game was to, “Travel the path of LIFE making decisions, building a family, earning money (and paying some out, too), buying homes and collecting LIFE tiles. Have the highest value at the end of the game and win.“
Let’s be honest. How many of us are still playing this game? It’s so easy to focus on “winning” at life. Sometimes we get so caught up with having the “highest value” that we completely lose sight of the simple, beautiful things life has to offer. Just the fact that we woke up to see another day should be enough to make us live it to the fullest, with intention and purpose. Somehow, it’s just easier to focus on the negative, the mundane, the exhausting routines we find ourselves in while “traveling the path of LIFE”.
With this COVID-19 epidemic and all the fear and anxiety swirling around our social media feeds and news reports – it’s easy to get sucked into it all. We immediately think of worst case scenerios. Whether we want to admit it or not, this pandemic has revealed a lot about where our sense of security lies. It forces us to think about the frailty of life that we would otherwise be blissfully ignorant of. It causes us to reevaluate our routines and our priorities.
For those of you who have lost a friend or loved one unexpectedly (whether to COVID or some other cause) You can relate to that feeling of emptiness and devastation that suddenly washes over you. How death makes temporary setbacks suddenly feel so pointless. Our attachments to monetary things begin to lose their value. It begs the question…if we’re not here to just endure hardships, or keep up with the Joneses, why are we here? What is our purpose? What is the end game?
As believers, it is to be the hands and feet of Jesus. To show our scars to those who have allowed themselves to stop believing in restoration. There are things I have faced that have literally almost killed me. Things I thought I would never recover from. Things I truly believed no one would understand. So I isolated myself. Isolation is where the enemy does his best work. I believed the lie that no one could possibly understand my pain, so there was no point in opening up. I just sat in the company of my own thoughts of inadequacy, anxiety and confusion.
By the grace of God I made it through, and in the process I found purpose. To be the person I needed at that time – for somebody else. The person who unapologetically shares their deepest, darkest moments – for the sole purpose of offering hope and healing to someone feeling alone in it all. When I finally opened up to a few of my closest friends, I was shocked to realize they had felt the same feelings at one point or another. Circumstances vary, but feelings are pretty universal.
“When you are struggling with feelings of isolation and loneliness, you need someone to speak into your circumstances from a place of experience.”
Before hitting my lowest point, I was only able to reach so far to help others out of theirs. Even if I wanted so desperately to be the light at the end of their tunnel, my message could only reach so far. When you are struggling with feelings of isolation and loneliness you need someone to speak into your circumstances from a place of experience. You need to know that someone else has been there and survived it. You need someone willing to meet you right where you’re at, not at the place you feel you’ll never be able to get back to.
When I look back at the most painful, confusing, traumatic time of my life from God’s perspective (the One I thought left me, the One I felt so far away from, the One I just knew no longer cared) I began to realize my struggles were never about me. Just like the struggles Jesus faced on this earth were never about Him. They were about you. You reading this right now, believing that there is no way out. Believing that no one understands. Believing that you’ve gone too far and done too much. Believing that life is just a sick game and that the only way out is to stop playing. Jesus willingly put Himself in a position to meet you Right. Where. You’re. At. The cruelty of the cross? That was for you.
I am living proof that these trials, these setbacks, these hopeless situations are nothing more than preparation for our calling. The enemy would love for us to stay so focused on the here and now. The uncertainty of tomorrow. The anxiety that creeps in at the most inopportune times. It can become all consuming. But the moment he realizes you’re going to take the hell he threw your way and turn it into heaven-on-earth for somebody else, he’s going to wish he never bothered you. You may not be in control of your circumstances, but you are in complete control of your mind.
Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.
– Philippians 4:6-8
You are powerful. You are stronger than you know. You were made for SO. MUCH. MORE. The enemy may have convinced you this is the end, but it’s time to change the game. If you can’t change your circumstances, change your perspective. That’s where your power lies. What the enemy meant to destroy your soul, God is going to use to fulfill your destiny. When you begin to look at it from God’s point of view, you start to see hurting souls who need to hear your story. The ones who are where you may be right now. Ready to throw in the towel. Ready to get off the ride. You’re going to find yourself at the right place, at the right time, perfectly orchestrated to speak life back into their situation and give purpose to their pain.
If you find yourself sitting in a place of pain and suffering, lost in the confusion of your own thoughts, the what-ifs and how-comes. I want to encourage you to give it to Jesus. Isaiah 53:3 tells us “he was despised and rejected, a man of sorrows, aquainted with grief.” Not only can He relate to our pain, but He willingly endured it – for us. He suffered for a purpose. He knew we would face tribulation in this world, so He overcame it. For us.
“These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation; but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”
– Jesus
I want you to reach out to someone you trust and ask them to pray for your situation. You’d be surprised how many people know just how you feel, despite not having gone through your exact struggle. Let somebody in. You never know who God has prepared, specifically, to be the life preserver in your storm.
Find your creative outlet. What comes easy for you? What do you enjoy doing? For me, I like to journal my thoughts and feelings in absolutely no particular order. I learned a while ago that writing has become very therapeutic for me. Especially in those times I want to keep things just between me and God. I guess it’s a type of prayer journal, but it also inspires a lot of my blog posts.
It doesn’t have to be writing – for some it may be music, poetry, photography, DIY projects, cooking, or song writing. Whatever your unique God-given gifts are. Utilize them. Right here. Right now. You do not have to have it all together for God to use you. In fact, you may be perfectly positioned – so He can.
Circumstances don’t get to define you, God does. He’s getting ready to take you places you never could have gone before. He’s got a plan, He’s got a purpose, and He’s going to make something beautiful out of the ashes. All of them. When we shift our perspective from the natural to the eternal, we take back our minds. We begin to see just how powerful our testimony will be, even in the middle of our pain. The only thing He needs to complete His masterpiece are our broken pieces.
But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.”
1 Peter 5:10 KJV
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