“Don’t underestimate the value of doing nothing, of just going along, listening to all the things you can’t hear, and not bothering.” –Winnie the Pooh
Winnie the Pooh is brilliant.
This last week has been beyond sucky. Definitely one of the hardest weeks I’ve ever had. The details are unnecessary for this public platform, but nonetheless it was one of those weeks where you feel like you’re at that place that’s below rock bottom and climbing out is not a possibility.
So when you’re under rock bottom, what should one do? I guess there’s no better time to lay there and just analyze your life.
In times of struggle, I have difficulty letting it all go to God. I have difficulty letting anything go to anybody. I know I’m a control freak, especially when it comes to my emotions and mind. It’s a place only I should be allowed into and nobody else should come close, right? Wrong.
For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. (II Corinthians 4:17-18)
I always forget about my God who created my mind for me and thought my thoughts before I could even think them. (tongue twister!) The fact that I don’t give up my thoughts to Him and let Him sort them out for me is pretty unacceptable when you think of the amazing universe He’s created and the little speck I am in all that.
So when I started doing that (very little, granted that I suck at it), I realized all that I’ve neglected recently, whether it be friendships, family, my younger brothers in Christ, etc. I realized that giving up my thoughts to God also meant giving up my life for the good of others, especially those who have helped mold my life. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends (John 15:13). I would be lying if I told you that I’m willing to die for my friends. But I do want to start having that mindset, one where others come before me. One where I can truly commit selfless acts and expect no return (which is a challenge in our Western world.)
In this time of struggle, it has definitely been a challenge to not make it about myself and try to see the situation in a light where it is a hidden blessing. That’s where my amazing brothers and sisters have come in, helping me see the blessing of my struggles and helping me to lay under my Rock Bottom boulder and realize that will God pick it up off me, so that His glory might be seen in my story. (Chris Tomlin’s “I Will Rise”)
So like Winnie the Pooh said, I need to take a couple of steps back and just soak everything in around me, so that my mind’s eye wouldn’t be a tunnel but rather includes peripherals too.
“Life moves pretty fast. You don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” -Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
Smile and Nod 