Do you ever feel stuck? Like nothing you accomplish actually helps you move forward? Maybe even like what you manage to get done in a day might actually put you back a few steps?
You can work your hardest and try with all your might, but you still don’t seem to be able to move forward. You’re just stuck. You just have to wait. And I hate being in that place. I feel helpless and useless. I feel like I can’t do anything right, and I feel like nothing is ever going to change.
I’m working on those feelings. Because they’re not true and they’re certainly not helpful. But what can we do when we hit that place in our lives? We’ll all get there eventually, so how do we fend off the feelings of helplessness and hopelessness?
Green mulberry growing on the tree at Safe Haven Farm, Haven, KS
Today’s verse is Exodus 15:2.
The Lord is my strength and my song;
he has given me victory.
This is my God, and I will praise him—
my father’s God, and I will exalt him!
This verse comes from a larger chapter just after God saved the Israelites from pharaoh’s armies by parting the Red Sea. At that point in their lives, I’m sure the Israelites were thankful to God, mostly because what He had done for them was obvious. That’s where this song comes in.
And it’s honestly not a bad thing for us to remember either. We give the Israelites in the Bible such a hard time for being fickle and turning against God whenever they had the chance, but what do we do? God has done the same (if not more) for us than He did for them, and we still have days where we ask Him where He is. We still have days when we doubt Him. We’re just as bad as the Israelites. Maybe we haven’t made a golden calf and worshipped it, but there are plenty of other things we’ve made in our lives that we use as a substitute for God.
Like so many things in life, the issue is perspective. God gave us this life on earth to bring glory to Him, to praise Him, to learn how to walk with Him. But this life isn’t our final destination. Earth isn’t where we will spend eternity. This life is just a pit stop.
So when this life goes wrong, why do we get upset? When our plans don’t work out in this life, why do we get angry with God? This life isn’t the life we were designed to live anyway. A new life is coming, a better life, and that’s what we should be looking forward to. And if you’re a Christ-follower, that life is already guaranteed to you.
God has already won the victory over death and sin. He’s already conquered all the real enemies in our lives. So why be upset? Why be discouraged? Why be frustrated?
No, this life won’t always go the way you want it to, but don’t be like the Israelites, who praised God for His goodness one moment and the complained about His plan the next.
God has given us victory. Period. It may not always look like we want it to, but it’s not up to us anyway.
So the next time life twists off and surprises you or the next time God drops something in your lap that you don’t particularly want, don’t get upset with God. Don’t turn on Him. Remember who He is and what He’s done for you, and remember that you already have victory. And He’s not going to give you more than you can handle without His help.
Always Peachy 