When things don’t go your way

This will come as a shock to many of you, but things don’t always go my way.

And when they don’t, it’s easy for me to get upset, annoyed, and more than a little self righteous.

I know you’ve been there too. Things haven’t gone your way, and it stinks.

You thought the guy would marry you, but he didn’t.

You thought the boss would love your proposal, but he hated it.

You thought the offer would come through, but it didn’t.

You thought your friend would apologize, but she didn’t.

It’s more personal than you want it to be. It’s more difficult than you’re willing to acknowledge.

When things don’t go your way, it’s easy to point fingers and blame others.

Well what does he know about it anyway? Never liked him, never will. He’ll figure it out soon enough. He’ll come begging for my plan. And when he does, I won’t give it to him. I’ll just snicker and laugh.

So you stew for a while, until you realize that it really doesn’t help to blame others.

So you move on to blaming yourself.

I’m no good at this. Of course he didn’t like it. What do I know? No one wants to marry me. If only I was prettier. Should have put in the granite counter tops when I could. I dropped the ball. I’m a big mistake. I shouldn’t have gotten this job to begin with. I’m no good at it.

The pit of self pity is very deep, so hurry up and get out of it.

But since you’ve already tried blaming yourself and others and that didn’t work, you finally move on to blaming God.

If only He cared about me that wouldn’t have happened. If only He knew how painful this was, He wouldn’t have allowed me to suffer. Why does He prefer everyone else to me? Why doesn’t He care? Where is He when I need Him the most?

Pretty soon you find yourself in a cycle of defeat and despair. 

But what if, when things don’t go your way, you stopped yourself for a moment and considered this:

GOD IS IN IT.

He caused that delay because he saw the road ahead.

He allowed that promotion to pass because he knew what you don’t.

He let you feel the pain, he let you suffer loss, he let you face the mountain for a reason.

He saw what it took to make you stronger, wiser, better, and he allowed it.

When things don’t go your way, don’t jump too quickly to conclusions. The story’s not over. You don’t have all the information yet.

But He does.

Will you trust Him?

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