“Even the most grounded people can feel hijacked by the winds of unpredictable change. We feel weighed down by grief while at the same time unable to get our bearings as the weightless ashes of all we thought would be fly away.”- Lysa TerKeurst
“But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”- 1 Corinthians 15:57 (NIV)
In her Introduction to It’s Not Supposed to Be This Way: Finding Unexpected Strength When Disappointments Leave You Shattered, Lysa TerKeurst gives voice to thoughts we entertain about how life should turn out. The life we yearn for, Ms. TerKeurst suggests, consists of:
- more than just a general sense of okayness; we want a glorious land called normal
- our consent to any planned changes
- the ability to veto any circumstances not to our liking
- fresh gusts of predictability
- goodness and peace
Furthermore, Lysa states, we want more than simply feeling good about the end of our story. Instead, we want to write it ourselves. Because, as Ms. TerKeurst explains, we attach ourselves to outcomes:
“Humans are very attached to outcomes. We say we trust God but behind the scenes we work our fingers to the bone and our emotions into a tangled fray trying to control the outcomes. We praise God when our normal looks like we thought it would. We question God when it doesn’t.”
In addition, if suspect God’s set fire to the hope holding us together, we walk away from Him. But, surely things will get better soon – very soon. And our faithful friends feel good about the time they invested with us. On the other hand, those who shunned or judged us confess their error and apologize.
Finally, although we make big assumptions of what God can do and attempt to control or demand the outcome of our circumstances, only Christ provides certain victory. And that victory includes how well we live today. We must tie our hope not to specific outcomes, but to the very heart of God.
Today’s question: What Scriptures strengthen you when hijacked by the winds of unpredictable change? Please share.
Tomorrow’s blog: “Smile on the outside, implode on the inside”
