I remember a time when I couldn’t relax. I had constant anxiety over my good fortune…
Everyone was healthy.
We had a beautiful new home.
We traveled and took many vacations.
Bruce was advancing in the fire department.
I was finally using my degree in journalism and mass communication.
But I was always waiting for the other shoe to drop.
Why did so many others have big adversities and we didn’t?
In my anxieties over what could potentially go wrong, I ran circles in my head – obsessing over unrealistic perfection, what material items I “needed,” and how I should be advancing at work.
I wasted the good.
Soon to come would be short selling our home, living in a travel trailer, and brain cancer.
I look back on that time before and I want to shake my younger self awake!
“Hey Andy! You woke up today! Look how far you’ve come! Stop looking for the bad under the blessings! Be intentional with what you have while you can!”
I think sometimes we forget to just sit in the goodness.
In the hard seasons of life, there are still good parts.
Likewise, in the good seasons of life, there are still hard parts.
Yet, we always tend to focus on mostly the hard stuff. I think it’s because it’s in our human nature to want to be protected and prepared. We want some sense of control over our lives and the outcome of our works.
I have a radicle idea.
What if we just surrendered?
In my book I started off chapter 6 with, “Surrender is a decision to hope.” I wanted people to know that surrender isn’t giving up, it’s giving over. It’s choosing life. It’s choosing to hope!
So what if we just surrender to the good and the bad?
What if we changed our perspective to find peace knowing that the good times are seasons of refreshment to be enjoyed and the hard times are seasons of refinement to be prepared?!
Life Practice
Whatever season you’re in right, now take inventory.
- Are you focusing on helpful thoughts?
- Is there truth and evidence in your most prominent thoughts?
- Take a deep breath. Fill your body with hope, and release expectation.
God has you in this season to prepare you, either in rest or refinement, to live your purpose.
Don’t miss it by trying to control everything. All you can really control is how you respond.
XO
