How You Doin'?

2:30 PM Kaitlyn 2 Comments

I'm gonna be honest with you. Recently, I've been kinda busy and stressed out. I've caught myself numerous times thinking something like, ugh, can't wait to finish this or I just wanna be done and take a nap. It's been a week. Actually, it's been a few weeks. But when people come up to me and ask me, "How are you?" I've actually replied, "Good!" I'm not the type of person who likes hearing that response from people. It's sooo generic, and half of the time (let's be real) people are literally lying to us and giving us their default response. I hate that. However...this week, as friends were asking me how I was doing, it was actually kinda weird. Maybe this is the extrovert, energized-by-people part of me, but I think it's the Lord's faithfulness: every time someone's asked me that, I've felt good, and I could genuinely tell them so without lying through my teeth. I told my friend just this weekend, "You know, I should be telling you how stressed out I've been, because honestly, between school and having houseguests who generated negativity and stress, I didn't feel good. But if there's one thing I've learned over the years, it's that perspective matters. So I've been looking at every situation as, how is God growing me? What is He trying to teach me here? and that has completely changed me. I'm just so much happier and so content!" 

This mindset didn't come to me automatically; it came over the course of a 4-5 year period; one of the hardest I've gone through so far. (See: YOUR PAIN IS NOT POINTLESS.) Instead of dwelling on my emotions or wallowing in an endless hole of self-pity...ew, don't wanna ever intentionally do that again...I'm learning to let go of my circumstances and fix my eyes on Jesus. See, that is the secret to contentment. Take the well-known story of Peter walking on water. He started off, probably smiling, when he took those first steps on the waves, lookin at Jesus. But then, when Peter took his eyes off Jesus, he began to fall into the waves. By focusing on his circumstances, which were unpleasant, he was invoked to fear and he promptly began to sink. But Jesus offered His hand to Peter and rebuked him, saying, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?" (Mt 14:31 ESV). Here's the thing: our circumstances will pretty much never be absolutely perfect. We live in a fallen world; therefore nothing is perfect. People, circumstances, nature...none of that is perfect. If we focus on our problems, we will eventually be filled with fear. However, when we choose to intentionally focus on Jesus rather than the surrounding problems, we can be filled with joy. Because He is perfect, we can be wholly satisfied in Him. Now, that doesn't mean we have perfect faith; we don't. But by choosing, again and again, to turn back to Him when we stumble and fall, there will always be a hand waiting for you to pick you up and guide you back on the right path. It takes intentionality and it's a choice you have to make every day, every hour, every minute - because the devil sure ain't gonna leave you alone if you're focusing on God. He's gonna try, EVERY CHANCE HE CAN, to distract you and tear you out of peace and security [God]. The devil wants nothing more than to get your attention off Jesus and onto your problems. He loves fear. He loves peeling you away from the truth. Therefore, be on your guard and surround yourself with truth more than problems. You know that song Surrounded? It goes something like this:

It may look like I'm surrounded but I'm surrounded by You / It may look like I'm surrounded but I'm surrounded by You / It may look like I'm surrounded but I'm surrounded by You / It may look like I'm surrounded but I'm surrounded by You / This is how I fight my battles

Note how many times it repeats that line, and that's only one of the many repeated verses! When we immerse ourselves in something, repeating it and hammering it into our brains, it's harder for it to escape. What is something that's been heavily on your mind lately? The stress of school? Family problems? A break up? What to wear at church? How you're gonna cram for the exam tomorrow?

How are you doing? Like really. Are you anxious? I'd encourage you to figure out the root of that and try your best to lift your focus off that and shift your gaze UP to God. This morning, God gave me this visual of a house. First, it was a straight-on view of the front of it, with all the lights lit up through the windows. Then the view backed up and then became and aerial of the top of the house, so that all I could see was the roof. Sometimes we are so focused on the surface level matters, or matters that will at least pass in time, that we forget to look up and remember what's protecting us from all those problems - God. He is the roof to our house, representing our lives. We want to seem put together or we want things to just go well. And there's nothing wrong with that at all! I hate when things fall apart. But ultimately, when that happens, we just have to commit to remembering that God is still in control and that everything is under control. Even when it's not! I find so much comfort and peace that God has this intricate plan and that SOMEHOW He's able to use even the bad things for my good. Sooo when bad things happen and you're just plain STRESSED OUT and you want to just be done with life, friend, lemme tell you: surround yourself with truth; THE Truth. Take a break and pray, read the Bible, listen to worship music or a sermon and just refresh yourself. If we're always go-go-go, we'll definitely burn out. I know I do and have to remember to rest (blog post on that coming soon!). When stress hits, our natural instinct is to focus on that and either try to fix it or stress about it. But if we take a step back - go for that aerial view - and look up at Jesus, we see His hand reaching out to us to pick us up out of those waves. He's got it. And He's got you.

How you doin? Are you stuck on the ground, falling with your problems into fear, or are you looking up and striving to see from God's view? You must be intentional if you want to be happy in life. Choose Jesus and there will be joy even among the waves. Joy comes from peace, and peace from trusting the Lord. He has a plan and He is faithful to complete it in His timing.