Beyond the Label
Everyone has labels of some sort; mine have ranged from smiley, quiet, sweet, etc., when I was a younger child, to independent, stubborn, strong, and a perfectionist as an adult. Even to the present day, being labeled as strong, independent, and self-sufficient is used both as a compliment and a cop out by others. While I am proud of my independence, sometimes it serves as an excuse for others to feel like I don’t need help. Additionally, it’s a negative thing when I am so used to doing things by myself, for myself, or for others, so I struggle with asking for or accepting help. I am self-aware enough to realize that I am my own worst enemy when it comes to my hyper-independence.
After the dust settles on things, and we reflect back on seasons of life, it all makes sense why things had to happen the way they did. Not that God owes us any explanation or we have to understand the back story, but our human flesh often does go there mentally…like when our children realize we really know what we are talking about :).
Reflecting, things make sense… it had to happen this way. There was a season of life in recent years that we will summarize as family conflict. Justin wasn’t home, and I think that was part of His plan.
I had no other choice but to turn to God. As someone who has always tried and done an okay job of doing things on her own, I had to be broken in a sense to realize my strongest traits were also my biggest downfall.
It isn’t until we truly hand these over to God and give him all authority to handle that the situation can be resolved. Which also means that we are not still trying to manage things ourselves or constantly worrying about the things we have “given to God”.
Matthew 6:34
Luke 12:27
I didn’t do things right, I made things worse at times, but I really did not have malicious or petty intentions. I was struggling and felt there wasn’t anyone there that noticed or helped, no one but God.
God will allow things to happen to you, both good and bad, but that doesn’t mean that God is doing the things to you. Think of it as a Father that disciplines his children, He allows us to go through things to teach us. He could easily not let us make a bad decision, but then how would we learn from our mistakes and grow? Even the worst of situations can have a positive impact if we let it. In our human flesh, we are our own worst enemies. Our lack of trust, the need to have what we want & when we want, selfishness, and the list could go on and on for days, often gets us in situations that are less than ideal. Some of the world’s most beautiful things are grown or made under pressure.
Being a Christian doesn’t get us out of suffering, but actually the opposite. If life were always sunshine and rainbows, we wouldn’t have a want for Heaven. We can’t be part-time, lukewarm Christians and then blame God when we have a bad day. He is our Savior and “Super-Hero,” but He also deserves and expects our obedience and gratitude.
Romans 8:28
Jeremiah 29:11; 17:7-8
Psalm 56:3
Daniel 3:18 – “And if not, He is still good.”
What labels have you been given that have affected you?
