It is About God

The best beginning to any book I have ever read has to be from the Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren. It starts something like this…”It is not about you.” This short little sentence packs a punch. I remember being taken back at first by it, but it was just what I needed to hear at the time. Perhaps, I need to hear it all the time.

There is much fear and uncertainty these days. And that can cause many feelings to arise. Feelings that may trigger past fears and emotions. One might not even know they are being triggered. The only way you would know that you are having an over reaction is if you have been thru trauma before and have attempted counseling to teach you about how a post traumatic episode works.

A post traumatic episode goes something like this…an event happens in the present and you find yourself overwhelmed and you notice the feeling is very overwhelming to you, or someone else, that you trust, instists you are having an overreaction, but it is not as easy as that. Now you have to search your inner self for when you have felt that feeling before in that intensity. Some times it isn’t even linked to a very big trauma.

It might have been a time you were extremely disappointed or felt loss for a good valid reason but when you feel the feeling again it pings the same response as before and now you are experiencing the real feeling and the feeling of a past event all in one. You have to peel the old feeling off the new one and ask yourself is this a proper reaction. Often times these “old” feelings can go back to childhood.

Feelings are strong and I believe many of us are struggling to find peace in the chaos right now.  Maybe you are not having a post traumatic response, but the feelings are new and it is hard to process them. Some are grasping fear to an extreme, others are denying all fear all together, while others yet, have adopted to take action whether that action is to pray or to protest.

The reality is that it is not about you. There is a global pandemic…GLOBAL. We are all experiencing shut downs, masks, isolation. We are not alone in that. Celebrities, and the homeless are all being instructed to do the same things. The measures being taken are for our safety not our destruction.

It is hard. It is scary. It is very valid to have feelings right now, feelings of loss, fear, disappointment, abandonment, aloneness, emptiness, sadness, isolation, uncertainty, but we need to keep ourselves in check. We can experience peace, joy, and contentment right now.

It is easy to forget it is not all about me. In a world that shouts, “It is all about you!” I have a hard time not falling victim to its cries, but it is not all about me and it is not all about you dear reader. It is about God, and God is enough.

God is big enough to hold all our feelings. He is big enough to help us sort our feelings out. He can help us find peace through our feelings and through the uncertainty that is around us right now. He has all the peace, love, joy, contentment, patience and comfort that we need right now.

We need to remember it is not about us. God is bigger and He is enough. He is the Creator. He is the Author of our story. He sees us right where we are. He sees who we are and what we need. Even in our unbelief we can cry out, “Help my unbelief!”

We can count on Him. We can trust Him. We can find grace for others in Him. We can find grace for ourselves in Him. Won’t you join me today in saying, “It is not about me. It is about You God, and You are enough!” 

Lord, Help me rest in You. Your will be done not my own. I ask that you take my eyes off of myself and my feelings and help me to put them back on You, because you are my safe place, and only You can save. I give myself to You Lord, have Your way in me.

In Jesus Name,

Amen