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Many times, when presented with a difficult situation, we shrug our shoulders, sigh deeply and say, “It is what it is.”
That implies some level of acceptance. However, we rarely let it go at that. Even when we realize “it is what it is,” we still believe there is one more thing to do before moving on.
Someone must be blamed.
Often I start with myself. What did I do wrong? How could I have prevented this? Even if my situation did come about because of someone else, I blame myself for trusting them.
After I tire of beating myself up, I turn to other people. How could they have done this to me? How could they have let this happen to me?
When that does not seem to bring any level of closure, I then come to an issue I even hate to bring up. And yet I sense I am not alone in my dilemma.
Do you ever blame God? After all, isn’t everything on His Watch? Doesn’t He either cause things or allow them?
And so I go into forbidden territory. I try to figure God out. Satan is waiting.
First he says, “You screwed up. God is punishing you. He hates you.”
That takes me right back where I started. I must have done something wrong.
But now I have not just me judging myself, I have The Judge. And I feel The Judge is condemning me.
But Jesus said He did not come to condemn the world. He came to save the world.
If satan can get us to believe God is punishing us, then we will fear Him. We will doubt He has a good plan for us. We will fear what He will do next.
After firing his first rounds of doubt and fear, satan moves on to “God has abandoned you. He saw your misery, but He didn’t care. He let you suffer, but now He has moved on. You are alone. But I am here. I will help you.”
This is the true dangerous turning point. If we trust satan or ourselves more than we trust God, we will fall.
So how can we trust God when His World does not make sense?
David said, we enter God’s Presence with thanksgiving and with praise. One follows the other.
When we think of all the ways God has provided for us in the past and is providing for us in the present, praise follows. We can be confident He will deliver us again.
When we read God’s Word and believe it is His Word for us, we can rest in His Promises. We will know He will continue to provide for us.
We can approach Him in confidence that we will receive His Love, Mercy and Grace.
The world will continue to bring trouble. But God’s Truth will always win out over satan’s deceptions. What God says it is is what it is!
God is love. There is no fear in love.
1 John 4:16 and 18
Let us then approach God’s Throne of Grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
Hebrews 4:16
