What
to do? These are a few things I’ve found helpful, but the list is by no means
complete. I’d love to hear your thoughts. Some are obvious, but still, we may
need to approach them in a different way.
Pray. You’re probably already doing this, but just a
reminder that after prayer, we leave the
results to the Lord. Easy to write or say. Hard to do. Desired results are
often driven by comparisons. We see others reaching a particular goal, and
allow their outcome to drive ours. The Lord may not be taking us to that same
place . . . or in the same time. We trust that God has his reasons, which are sometimes oblique
to us, at least in the present.
Listen. We give ourselves time to hear from the Lord
through prayer and His word. He could be using circumstances to redirect us,
but we are insisting on staying the course we may have predetermined. We allow the Lord to tweak our course and adjust our expectations. I often hear
writers say their journey has not turned out like he or she thought it would, but
it has been wonderful, anyway.
Zoom out. Instead of doubling down and really focusing on a
situation, do the opposite. Zoom out and get the big picture. In the grand
scheme, is this important, or have we become too focused on
just one thing? Are we giving God the space to work in His time or have we
created a situation where we are expecting God to work in our time?
Share with a
trusted friend. Don’t suffer alone.
Find a trusted friend with whom you can share your struggle and receive the affirmation from someone who cares.
If it’s possible,
do something different for a while.
Take time to reset, to get a fresh vision, and relax. Often, we’ll come back to
the table with a renewed sense of hope of what God wants to do.
Put your
mind on the truth. At our low points,
we’ll often find the enemy attacks with negative thoughts. But God has told us
how to combat this: “. . . whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right,
whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is
excellent or praiseworthy-think about such things.” That verse is followed with
the benefit of putting that verse into action: “And the God of peace will be
with you” (Philippians 4:8,10). That’s the most wonderful thing, that God is
with us, no matter what.
So, there you go. Try these out and see what the Lord will do. My prayer for you is included in a benediction that Paul wrote to the Hebrews, “Now may the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen” (Hebrews 13:20-21).