How do Fridays find us so quickly? SO QUICKLY.
I've been pondering a truth recently and I wonder if you can relate?
There are times when turbulence hits our lives out of, seemingly, nowhere. Maybe it's a relationship that suddenly got tense, a job suddenly comes into question, a really bad day out of nowhere, the realization that none of your pants fit (don't underestimate the turbulence of ill-fitting clothes!!!), the loss of a pregnancy, unwanted news, or the list could go on. Bottom line, sometimes things can feel that they have turned upside down in one instant.
If you're anything like me, my first and very instinctual response is to DO SOMETHING. Like yesterday. Since I believe in Jesus, that often means that I feel the urge to pray up a storm. And if I could pray up a literal storm - all the better.
I don't think that's all wrong. I am a firm believer that He hears my prayers and interacts with me there. I am firm believer that He acts on my behalf. But - I've also come to the conclusion in my thirty two years that He and I have different definitions of good and bad at times. Yes? Yes. It would be so very nice if that weren't the case. If we both saw situations in the same light - what is good is good and what is bad is bad. Now certainly - our definitions line up a lot of the time - just not all of the time. And those 'just not all of the times' are the ones that can really hang us up.
So what's a girl to do in those moments of shift?
Fight, sister. Fight, brother.
You are to fight. You absolutely are to go to battle. The most violent tool I've come to know is the most opposite of my instincts:
Trust.
Trust. Trust. Trust. Trust. And then come back to trust. And from that place, I go, by His grace alone.
Trust is not a place of inactivity or victimization. Trust is more powerful than you could imagine. Trust and leaning into trusting Him declares to ALL that - there is nothing that can shake you from His love. Take it all away. Take the relationship away. Take the job away. But you will not take me away from trusting Him. I think that ultimately, the goal most often when the turbulence comes is to cause you to FEEL vulnerable, susceptible, or attacked. And those feelings breed fear. And it's really hard for trust and fear to live in the same house.
We are only humans though, I think you can agree. Perfection of response is not ever going to happen....unless you're just way different than I am. Which is entirely possible! LOL. But it's not that we will never feel fear. I simply want to open my heart to trust more than I open it to fear. Because trust comes from truth. Fear comes from one who has my worst intentions in mind, certainly not my best.
So yeah, you better believe I'm going to fight. But I'm going to fight from a place of trust instead of a place of fear. Fighting out of trust feels a whole lot different than fighting out of fear.
It's like taking a deep, cleansing breath. And that just feels so very much better than a lot of short shallow breaths.
Let's breathe deeply together because we can trust. You can trust and I can trust.
Happy Weekending Y'All!
Abi
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