Christian

TRUSTING GOD WHEN IT’S HARD

/ OrganizedWithJoy / Leave a comment

Okay friends, for this week’s Thoughtful Thursday post (which is going up on Friday this week!) I wanted to talk about trusting God when it’s hard. Or trusting God when our circumstances don’t make sense or are difficult. The first thing I am going to say about this is that it is not easy. I don’t have three neat steps to trust God when it’s hard. I think what makes trusting difficult usually has to do with timing. We think God should do something to change our circumstances on our timeline and so we feel discouraged.

From my experience, I have seen how God has used the in between, the waiting, to help me to grow. I needed the circumstances, which seemed so difficult or painful at the time, to help me to grow as a person. To help me to gain more self awareness, to help me grow in patience, to help me grow in perseverance. All of this is not easy. As humans, we naturally want things to be comfortable. We want things to go our way and in our time. But I think if all of that were true we would not grow and evolve. There is a quote I once heard by Robin Sharma, “Rough seas make stronger sailors. Tough times build greater people.”

I think it is important when we are in a period of waiting for God to answer our prayers or waiting for God to intervene in our difficult circumstances to shift our perspective. It is easy to feel sorry for ourselves and focus on how our circumstances aren’t fair. But what if instead of focusing on the negative, we asked ourselves “what lesson is there for me to learn in this difficult season.” I can almost guarantee you that when waters are rough, the sailor is learning a lot about sailing!

One perspective that I like to remind myself of when I am in a difficult season in life is that I cannot see the big picture. I am in one season of life, which may be short, relatively speaking compared to the rest of my life. God sees that big picture and knows what we need in each season of life. The difficulties today may be preparing us for our future. I recognize that this idea doesn’t resonate with everyone, but even if you don’t believe in God, there is a big picture happening and you are in one part of your timeline and can’t see the big picture.

I can assure you, because I have lived enough life, that the hard seasons we go through are not in vain. From my experience, it has been in those difficult seasons that I have grown, not just in general as a person but also in my faith! When I look back, I see what God was doing in those times when I felt impatient and frustrated with life. Because of this experience, it is easier for me to keep that positive attitude and keep trusting that God has a plan for my life. There are two comforting Bible verses when it comes to this topic. The first is Jeremiah 29:11, which says “‘For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope for the future.’” The second verse is Romans 8:28 which says, “All things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.”

I do want to say, I by no means want to minimize any difficult life circumstances you might be going through right now. I have chosen not to share publicly some of the things I have gone through in my life, but believe me I have gone through some pretty tough things. If you are going through a difficult time right now and need prayer, you can let me know down in the comments and I will pray for you. If you don’t feel comfortable sharing publicly, you can just ask for general prayer, or message me over on Instagram. I will pray for you!

This is the YouTube video I shared in conjunction with this blog post.

FOCUS ON YOUR HEART!

/ OrganizedWithJoy / Leave a comment

Okay friends, for today’s Thoughtful Thursday I wanted to share a quote that my friend Jo shared with me. Jo also has a YouTube channel, Minimal Zebra! This quote is from Mother Theresa and it says, 

“People are often unreasonable and self-centered. Forgive them anyway. If you are kind, people may accuse you of ulterior motives. Be kind anyway. If you are honest, people may cheat you, be honest anyway. If you find happiness, people may be jealous. Be happy anyway. The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow. Do good. Give the world the best you have and it may never be enough. Give your best anyway. For you see, in the end, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway.”

It can be challenging to deal with people who are unreasonable and self-centered. Oftentimes this behavior is a result of internal struggles the person is going through. When we recognize that people who are unreasonable and self-centered are likely going through or have gone through really difficult things, it can make it easier to have compassion on them and forgive them.

One thing I have learned from having a presence on social media, well and really just in life in general, is that people may misunderstand you. This is something that is really difficult for me as a people pleaser. But I am learning to realize that all that really matters is what is in your heart. People will interpret your actions and words however they want, but they don’t know what is in your heart. All we can do is focus on being the best we can be – a kind, caring, compassionate, and loving person. Also recognizing that we will make mistakes and we won’t always be perfectly kind, caring, compassionate or loving. But all we can do is our best. I’m learning to focus on the internal more than the external, because behavior, if even seemingly good on the outside, doesn’t always reveal true heart motives.

People often misunderstand you when they don’t know you well. Either acquaintances in your real life, or people seeing your content online. They don’t know what your life is really like. They don’t know what you endure day in and day out, especially if you are going through things that you don’t share openly about on social media. You know your heart and your motives, so if those are right you have nothing to worry about!

Ultimately we are only responsible for ourselves. Our behavior, our motives, our thoughts. We can’t control what others do, say, or think. In my opinion, it is better to live in such a way that we do the best we can do each day. “Give the world the best we have” as Mother Theresa says. It might not be “enough” by the world’s standards, but when you know you gave it your all, then you can sleep well at night. When you live with integrity, you have nothing to be ashamed of and nothing to hide. And when you do make a mistake and don’t live in such a way that you are proud of, then you make a different choice tomorrow!

As someone who is a people pleaser, or like I like to call myself a recovering people pleaser,  it can be easy to get wrapped up in trying to convince people you are a good person. I’m realizing this is a complete waste of energy. We must put our energy into BEING a good person and let the chips fall where they may so to speak. As Mother Theresa so wisely pointed out: “it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway.”

It is not always easy to do, but focusing on your own life, your own happiness, and your own goals without worrying about others’ opinion of you is the healthiest way to live!

This is the YouTube video I shared in conjunction with this blog post.