Dealing with Life’s Woes

Life can really take a toll on you. It can have you feeling like things will never change. Life’s trials and tribulations can cause you to feel like your current situation is your forever situation. Life can drain any sense of hope you may have right out of you. Speaking from personal experience, life can really suck sometimes. I know that we are supposed to be thankful for life itself, but sometimes constant troubles prevent us from thinking about any good that has ever happened. I can clearly recall going through life on the verge of giving up each day. It seemed like the good would never happen and I would be fighting adversity all the days of my life. It seemed that the misery and heartache that I was currently feeling would be forever. I clearly recall wondering, Why me? Why do I have to experience such things?

Now I don’t want to sound like a wimp, but it really gets hard sometimes. Sometimes I take it and move on, but other times the blow literally knocks me down. For the longest time I tried relying on my own strength to get over the adversity, but each time I failed. I failed miserably, and end up in the same or worse predicament. When I failed, guess what would happen. I would get angry with God. I was hurt because I didn’t understand because I worked hard and I felt that I deserved some happiness. I felt like God had forgotten about me. I felt that he had let me down.

Instead of dusting myself off and getting up, I gave myself a big pity party. I invited every failure, every betrayal, every negative moment, every trial, every heartache, and every painful situation to the party. The room was filled with every and anything that had ever hurt me.  At that party I allowed all of those bad and negative things to replay over and over again. I allowed it to taunt me and tell me what my life would be and what I could not get through. I allowed myself to feel bad and miserable, when really I should have  found the positive and allowed God to use me in those situations for the good. I let the pity party throw me into a real depression. I let the pity party take every bit of self worth and self esteem away from me. I let it kill my spirit, drive, and dreams. I let it beat me up and make me feel worse. I allowed it to tell me that I wasn’t good enough and that I deserved to be unhappy. I let the pity control my life.

Sadly, the pity party trickled into my daily life. I expected others to feel sorry for me. I expected others to love me and make me feel better. That was the worse thing I could do. I waited for others to give me confirmation that I was loved or I was doing well. I was looking for others to do something that I had not done. I was looking for other to give me a boost when I couldn’t even begin to give myself a boost. It was terrible because seeking this confirmation from others only made my situation worse. It wasn’t until I realized that I was going about life the wrong way. I was head in the wrong direction and all of the cars were honking, blinking there lights, and trying to get my attention to tell me that I was going the wrong way. I had been given so many signs and directions, but the I had allowed life’s learning lessons to shape my outlook of my future. I had allowed it to turn me into a big ball of negativity.  

When I looked in the mirror, I was disgusted because I had allowed myself to turn into something that I know God didn’t want me to be. One day I decided that enough was enough. I was ready to put every single ounce of negativity out of my party. It was my party and I wasn’t letting anyone bring me down. I didn’t need the baggage any longer. I didn’t need the confirmation from others. Why was I looking for others to lift me up and love me when God loves me so dearly. God has always been there waiting for me to call on him. Isaiah 54:17 tells us that "no weapon that is used against us will defeat us." So my question is, why was I letting all of the ugliness defeat me. Why was I allowing it to get me down. When things go array or get you down, we must remember that God has something better. In Isaiah 54:1, God said, “you never felt the pain of giving birth, but you will have more children than the woman who has a husband.” Here God is telling us that just because it seems like it want work, doesn’t mean that he doesn’t have a bigger plan for us. Remember that God is powerful than anyone and anything. He can defeat anyone and anything.

When I realized that I was going through life all wrong, it was very eye opening.  It brought clarity because I began to realize how I was wrecking my own life. I was bringing misery to myself. It was time for a change. It was time to be free of life’s obstacles. It was time to build a deeper relationship with God and to trust in him and his word. It was time to end the pity party and have a praise party. It was time for me to do as God said and build my tent bigger and wider. It was time that I take God up on his offer. So, for whoever is reading this, if you don’t take anything out of this post, remember that God has great things for you regardless of your past or current situation. Remember that the victory comes from God himself and no one else.