Life hasn't been going my way lately and I've noticed something about myself when life doesn't go my way: I throw a fit. I am 20 years old and I will throw a fit to God when He doesn't do things my way. Just the other day something didn't go my way and I felt God say, "I can't work in the 'woe is me.'" I've been wrestling with that thought for a few days. What does that even mean?
The 'woe is me'
Situations come up in our lives in which we sit for hours, days, even weeks in prayer over what is to come. We sit in hope, sometimes imagining how our lives will change when the outcome goes our way. We say that prayer, "God your will, not mine," but in our minds we are praying, "God may your will match up with my will." Then, God's will happens, and it wasn't our will, and now we are sulking.
"Why God?" "Why didn't you let it go my way?" "But God I thought you had spoken to me?" "God why would you even give me that hope if you were just going to take it away?" "God why do I get rejected each and every time?" "God. What is wrong with me?"
Sounds pathetic. But those are all thoughts I have had when something hasn't gone my way. Once I have those thoughts, I sit in them. I complain about the situation, constantly asking the same question over and over again, "But God, why?"
That is the 'woe is me'. The 'woe is me' is taking the "Why God?" and living in it.
How do you expect God to move when you are not giving Him the room to step in?
Something happens when you live in the "Why God". You allow many dark, untruthful things to take root. Things such as, "I will never be good enough for anyone." "It will never get better." "God really doesn't care about me." And so on. These are dangerous lies to begin to walk in.
Here is what I have learned: When God doesn't give me what I want it is because He is trying show me something or do something in my life that is far greater than what I thought I wanted. This is what I have also learned: If I am filling my heart with bitterness and complaining, how does that give God the room to fill my heart with whatever He is trying to do?
Isaiah 55:8-9 "'My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,' says the Lord. 'And my ways are far beyond anything you can imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.'"
My favorite way to think of one's heart is to compare it to a meadow. Lies and bitter, ugly things are weeds and truth and words from God are flowers. Your heart is soil. What are you allowing to be planted? I believe that God is trying to grow the most beautiful meadow in your heart but when we live in things such as the 'woe is me' we plant weeds that steal nourishment from the other flowers and take up space of what God was trying to plant.
The bottom line is: God knows better than we do. Don't complain that God isn't moving in your life if you aren't giving Him the room to do so. God is constantly trying to do something in your heart and life! He plants seeds, then He waters the seeds, and in His time, they begin to bloom. You may not like that you can't see the flower yet, but that doesn't mean you plant a weed in its place just so you can see something filling the void.
Let God move. Stop complaining, stop the 'woe is me', stop taking your life in your own hands. God is trying to work, are you letting Him?
The 'woe is me'
Situations come up in our lives in which we sit for hours, days, even weeks in prayer over what is to come. We sit in hope, sometimes imagining how our lives will change when the outcome goes our way. We say that prayer, "God your will, not mine," but in our minds we are praying, "God may your will match up with my will." Then, God's will happens, and it wasn't our will, and now we are sulking.
"Why God?" "Why didn't you let it go my way?" "But God I thought you had spoken to me?" "God why would you even give me that hope if you were just going to take it away?" "God why do I get rejected each and every time?" "God. What is wrong with me?"
Sounds pathetic. But those are all thoughts I have had when something hasn't gone my way. Once I have those thoughts, I sit in them. I complain about the situation, constantly asking the same question over and over again, "But God, why?"
That is the 'woe is me'. The 'woe is me' is taking the "Why God?" and living in it.
How do you expect God to move when you are not giving Him the room to step in?
Something happens when you live in the "Why God". You allow many dark, untruthful things to take root. Things such as, "I will never be good enough for anyone." "It will never get better." "God really doesn't care about me." And so on. These are dangerous lies to begin to walk in.
Here is what I have learned: When God doesn't give me what I want it is because He is trying show me something or do something in my life that is far greater than what I thought I wanted. This is what I have also learned: If I am filling my heart with bitterness and complaining, how does that give God the room to fill my heart with whatever He is trying to do?
Isaiah 55:8-9 "'My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,' says the Lord. 'And my ways are far beyond anything you can imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.'"
My favorite way to think of one's heart is to compare it to a meadow. Lies and bitter, ugly things are weeds and truth and words from God are flowers. Your heart is soil. What are you allowing to be planted? I believe that God is trying to grow the most beautiful meadow in your heart but when we live in things such as the 'woe is me' we plant weeds that steal nourishment from the other flowers and take up space of what God was trying to plant.
The bottom line is: God knows better than we do. Don't complain that God isn't moving in your life if you aren't giving Him the room to do so. God is constantly trying to do something in your heart and life! He plants seeds, then He waters the seeds, and in His time, they begin to bloom. You may not like that you can't see the flower yet, but that doesn't mean you plant a weed in its place just so you can see something filling the void.
Let God move. Stop complaining, stop the 'woe is me', stop taking your life in your own hands. God is trying to work, are you letting Him?
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