That used to be my personal mantra until I started thinking perhaps God considered it a challenge.
There is a 14 year old child that has decided to die because she has a disease that causes chronic pain and renders her immobile from the neck down. My first thought was “oh wow “. My second thought was that we have failed this up and coming generation so badly. We’ve coddled and bubble wrapped them so tightly in our efforts not to be our parents, that we’ve given them no coping abilities . I’ve never seen such vicious bullying and great numbers of suicide in my life.
But my next thought, as I began to pray for her, was that I wish I could speak into her life. I’ve learned that nothing raises up a spirit of rebellion like platitudes and obvious untruths. You simply cannot come at me will cliches and well intended words when I’m in the grips of a crisis. So I’ve learned to temper my conversations with “have you considered?”. I’ve found that does several things at once; it at least gets me listened to, doesn’t get what I have to Sa automatically rejected and it inserts an opinion that the person might not be able to see depending on the intensity of their situation.
All that being said, I wish I could teach her to categorize and compartmentalize her pain; a very neat trick for anyone with chronic pain. I wish we could discuss the possibility of a purpose to her life. Beyond the obvious and just to imagine what the other side of the situation looks like. Lastly, I’d love to surround her with the music that keeps me pushing, trying and pressing past wanting to give up.
God is good all the time, but truthfully, there are times and situations where we feel He’s good to everyone but us. Today’s music doesn’t always reflect what to do when you are feeling like that. These are the times I have to dust off my spirituals and press and keen my way to remembering He will never leave nor forsake me, despite if it feels He has done just that.
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