Unshackled Moments ~ June 13~ Dancing In The Rain

Positive thinking works...to an extent. That's why  so many recommend it. It also falls short eventually. The reason is that we need power from outside to give us strength when we don't have it. My mind is not a higher or greater power than my mind. There are times when it doesn't matter what angle I look at things or what positive spin I try to place on what's going on, life is bleak and the situation sucks. Life is often hard, and it doesn't matter how we try to deceive ourselves into thinking otherwise. There is a reason that a large portion of Psalms are songs of lament or sorrow and that the Holy Spirit is called the Comforter. Sometimes we need the comfort of God to wash over us before we drown in the sorrow and pain of the temporary. Sometimes the sorrow can last for years, and it's hard as the pain drags on to remember that even 80 years is temporary compared to eternity.

The good news is that God desperately wants to be our comfort as much as we want to be comforted, even more. There often comes a time when we can become comfortable in our misery. We identify and define ourselves with it and by it. We forget how to let it go. We forget that life can be anything other than miserable, but even then God wants to take our sorrow and replace it with joy and peace. He desires to turn our mourning into dancing. But we have to be willing to hear His music.

It's not power of positive thinking or self deceit or spiritual spin doctoring to remember that God is good even when life feels bad. The truth is that God loves us, even when it feels like we are the door mat that life and other people have wiped their feet on. It's not about convincing ourselves that the situation or life isn't really as bad as it feels but that there's more to it than what we can see and sense and experience at the moment. When life sucks, and it will at times, we have three options. We can turn away from God, wallow in our self-pity or we can run to our Daddy. If we choose the latter, our souls can be soothed and we can find comfort, even if the situation doesn't change as quickly as we'd like or hope. If we choose either of the former two options life will deteriorate and become even more miserable and meaningless. It's not easy, but it is that simple.

The rain may continue to fall, but we can dance with our Daddy in the rain. There can be joy in the blackest of days or decades. It's not convincing ourselves that the sun is shining when it's not as much as realizing the truth that we are loved of God.