Have you ever been stuck in a season of your life? And when I say “stuck”, I mean…it’s your own fault you are stuck in this season.
Maybe it is a season of grief, or depression. Maybe you lost a job or got divorced. Maybe you had an illness that caused life to stop right in its tracks and knocked you down for the count. I know I was stuck in a season for many years and I didn’t realize it at the time, but the reason I was stuck was ME.
You see, I went through a very traumatic season with my 4 children. And I allowed that experience and the events in my life that lead up to that season to define me. It was all I talked about. It was all I thought about. It was all I wrote about. For years!! Finally one day I realized, I was choosing to be stuck in this season. I wasn’t allowing myself (or anyone around me) to move on. And that day I realized that I had a choice in the matter, I stopped posting about it on social media. I stopped talking about it with my friends all the time. The thoughts took a bit longer, but eventually I realized this season wasn’t on my mind anymore.
And suddenly I found I was happier. I’m sure I was more fun to be around, after all, nobody wants to hang out with someone who is constantly hosting their own pity party.
Some days I wake up and I feel like America is stuck in a season. And I do mean STUCK! I want us to move forward with this election fraud stuff – like just get it out there and expose it already!! – and yet, it feels like it’s baby steps forward and big giant steps backwards. We Americans get stuck on certain topics and issues – they consume us and we want resolution. We want justice! And we’re not letting it go until we get it! As Conservative Ladies we’ll be happy when…Donald Trump is inaugurated once again. We’ll be happen when…the corrupt politicians receive justice. We’ll be happy when…the schools stop indoctrinating our children. I could go on and on.
It’s very easy to get nauseated on this emotional rollercoaster we’ve been riding for the last FOUR YEARS!! (The election is just the most recent issue) It’s easy to be discouraged and just tired of it all.
I was listening to Jack Hibbs on Sunday preaching a message titled, The Weary World Rejoices. We are weary but…we REJOICE! I loved this whole message so much but what really struck me was the scripture many of us know so well, Philippians 4:11-13
“Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content. I know how to be abased, and I know how to be abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
Philippians 4:11-13
Friends, we have a CHOICE. We can live in contentment and joy if we choose. It’s available for us and God wants us to choose it. He wants us to live content regardless if Trump is in the White House or…nope, can’t bring myself to write it. We can choose to live in contentment even in a state like Washington that is not friendly to conservatives. If we can be content in this place and time, we can do the work that we are being called to do.
There is a huge sense of relief and freedom when we come to the realization that we don’t have to live in fear and anxiety but that we can rest in God’s peace and joy. He has a plan. It’s a GOOD plan. I sure would love to see it sooner than later, but that’s not up to me. And so I wait in contentment. I look around and see the amazing women in our Conservative Ladies of Washington group who have connected in 2020 and become such close friends…and I am filled with joy and gratitude. Our group is a beautiful example of blessings in a storm, of light in a dark season.
We can stay stuck in this season. We can let this chaos of 2020 define us or we can make the choice to be content.
We have so much work to do as conservatives – let’s not stay stuck!
