A few years ago I found myself constantly asking God, “Why?” Things were just not panning out as I thought they would and I honestly thought I had been heading the way God wanted me to head. It was confusing and depressing.
I found myself disillusioned and angry too.
“God, why didn’t things go the way I thought they would?”
“God, I thought I was going the right way. Why didn’t it work out the way I thought?”
I’ll never forget my childhood pastor explaining to me that God would have me get on a bike in my life to get me to one point and then He’ll ask me to get off that bike and on to another one to go a different direction.
In my childhood mind, it made no sense, but now I get it.
The confusion of getting off one bike and on to another is for real.
The bike might be a career, or a goal, or vision for your life, for which you may have to get off completely in order to actually get where God wants you to be.
Mind blown.
But, that doesn’t mean we don’t go through ALL the emotions that come along with the disappointment of having to completely shift and change “bikes.”
Dealing with uncertainty is at the core of navigating life as a human and learning how to cope with all that accompanies uncertainty in a healthy way is at the center of growing and maturing as an adult but also as a believer.
I don’t think that God intends us harm when He moves us through life on one “vehicle” only to call us to shift to a different “vehicle” once we’ve reached a destination. His heart in these matters for our hearts is pure and kind and loving. His goal is to refine us like gold. To purify our hearts through life’s many twists and turns.
At the core of a Christian’s life are the truths about God’s involvement with our lives and world events as His presence and intimate involvement directly shapes our perspective and transformation.
It’s the lives of those we find in the scriptures that we can gain insight and wisdom with regards to our hope and our trust in God’s sovereign hand.
Joseph was betrayed by his brothers, sold into slavery, and then later came to rule in Egypt as God’s steady hand moved him into position during famine and reunited him with his family once again. Joseph’s journey was certainly filled with emotion and instability, but God’s faithful hand provided that He was put into God’s purpose and plan at just the right moment. Despite it all. Joseph remained faithful and trusting in God’s work.
We struggle to trust God’s plan for a few reasons I believe.
- We want to be the masters of our own destiny.
- We naturally have a fear of the unknown.
- We only have a limited perspective of our lives.
Now, at the risk of sounding trite, Christians often run to “solve the problem” by quoting scripture and telling each other to just have faith.
This can also have the opposite effect of comfort and bring more guilt and shame.
So, what do we do?
I think it helps to give ourselves permission to feel what is taking place first and to let compassion in for all the emotions that surround life’s twists and turns.
God sees it all. He can sit with you without judgment and let you process. He knows your needs. He fashioned you. He knows the weight you carry. In fact, he invites you to come to Him.
Matthew 11:28-30 says:
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Maybe you are in a place where you don’t understand what God is doing. You are weary and burdened. He invites you to bring it to Him and to lay it at his feet.
He is trustworthy and good. He will not pile on. In fact He promises to give you in return a light yoke that is easy. He will provide for your spirit exactly what it needs to carry it. All is needed is to come and trust.
Maybe you need help processing these things. Maybe you need a safe and trustworthy mentor or coach to just sit with you and give you the space to talk it through.
I know time and time again that just hearing the words come out of my mouth began the healing I truly needed.
We are here to serve you if you are looking for a coach. Reach out to us by emailing [email protected] and we will see if working with us will be the right fit for you in this season of life.
Be blessed.