I think that one of the toughest things for people is to rejoice and praise God when times get tough. Whether things go good or bad, there are still so many things to be thankful for. For example, today we didn't have a very good practice at all. There are two main ways you can react to that. You could be negative and have a terrible attitude about it, or you can suck it up, accept that we sucked, learn from it, and still be thankful for today. There is something to be thankful for every single day. I think that God really tested me with that today. It has been a long day. I sat in an urgent care center for 2 hours and my appointment lasted 2 minutes. I could have let that determine my mindset for the day, but I didn't. If you know me very well, I am sure that you've heard me say that life is 10 percent of what happens to you and 90 percent how you react. The toughest battles are won above the soldiers. Our minds are so powerful, especially when you use them positively in whatever way that you can.
Job 22:19-23: The righteous see their ruin and rejoice; the innocent mock them, saying, 'Surely our foes are destroyed, and fire devours their wealth.' "Submit to God and be at peace with him; in this prosperity will come to you. Accept instruction from his mouth and lay up his words in your heart. If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored..."
I share that because the righteous see their ruin and rejoice. After rejoicing in the ruin comes prosperity and than the Almighty will restore you. Reading that and understanding that is super encouraging to me. Yeah a lot of things will not go your way and it's hard to find things to be thankful for when you're going through times like that. But if you still rejoice you will find prosperity through the Father. Yeah today might have been a little rough and I could hang my head and be in a bad mood but why would I want to do that or choose to have a mindset like that. It's so negative and that negativity is when things can go even more down hill. I believe that God puts us through some tough situations every single day to test us, and to see how you react. How are you going to react when Jesus is testing you? Rejoice, rejoice, rejoice in all situations!
I think there are a lot of important things to remember when dealing with ruin or struggles. I think one thing is that you should never take out your anger on other people, especially your friends. When things go wrong and you have friends chirping in your ear about something it is so easy to just snap right back, and when you snap back like that, most of the time you are going to say something that you are going to regret. I think that it sometimes seems like we are better at tearing people down rather than lifting them up or cheering them on. Things are not going to go perfectly for both you and your friends every single day, if you go deeper than the surface, you are going to find out about things that you're both struggling with. I was reading this story one time about a bunch of crabs. Put a bunch of crabs and a bucket and watch what happens. When a crab or two-the ones with the most adventurous personalities-attempt to climb out, the others who are below them will reach out and pull them back down. The bottom crabs will keep doing this so that no crab will ever escape. We might not be crabs but sometimes we share that same mentality. If I can't have something-that great job, the best classes, the most beautiful girlfriend, good grades-neither can you. Now this is something that I don't struggle with but I know that there are people who struggle with this every single day. It's the idea that if you are suffering you want others to suffer with you. It's not fair that life moves on for others when our world is falling apart. And sometimes, people around us, even those closet to us, drag us down for whatever reason. And that hurts! I think either way, we must make a conscious choice to avoid strife, jealously, and division. Jealous and comparison is the thief of all joy. We need to stop being deceived by the negative words others say against us. And we need to stop saying negative things about others. The criticizing, the name-calling, the complaining-none of this adds value, to others or ourselves.
My main hope for you is that next time things aren't going well, that you still rejoice and praise God for all things. Even when things seem to be going great continue to praise God and don't forget about him. He has a plan, you just have to have faith and trust it. Also, you cannot take out any anger on other people during these negative times, do the best to love others and encourage them in the midst of every situation that they are going through. None of us are perfect and we all struggle with things every day, so never feel alone. Offer a prayer up to God and he'll reply. If you have toxic friends or are in relationships like that, I'd recommend that you pray about it and get rid of all toxic things. Surround yourselves with positive people who will ultimately lead you closer to God. It's tough, but I encourage you to really sit down and take some time to think of all the people you have a genuine friendship with.
Here is a link to an instrumental by Elevation Worship, I encourage you to listen to it, and to take some time praising God for all of the blessings in your life. Turn it up really loud too...
~ you are loved ~
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zAIQjrKQos
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