I feel a burden on my heart to write this out. Please bear with me as I try to find words to express an emotion.
Their is such a dark, evil presence hovering over our society. The most vile of all of our enemies. The most deadly. Truly one of the most horribly plagues that has ever threatened to consume us:
a spirit of negativity.
My heart is conflicted. I long to exist in this society. To fit in with the people around me. But I refuse to let this negativity become my eternity.
Here’s an experiment. Take a few days off of social media and TV (Netflix and other streaming sites included). Don’t even look at the news. Spend time in meditation and reading. Read the Bible and/or any other book that brings you joy and encouragement. Go for a walk. Enjoy the simple pleasure that can be found in peaceful solitude. Only communicate with others via text/phone as truly necessary. After a few days of “resetting” your mind, log back into your social media profiles. Scroll through your feeds. Open up a meme page or two. Scroll through comments. What you will find will surely break your heart.
We are all HURTING.
People are making memes and other jokes about wanting to die, how our society is totally screwed up, and how the up-and-coming generation has no hope for a comfortable or relaxing life. The only “hope” most of us find is in standing for a cause. Everyone is putting their hearts on the line for a cause, whatever that may be. Most of us have several causes that make us want to grab our pitchforks and riot. When someone disagrees with us, it feels like a personal attack. We all long for a peaceful, joyful society, but all of us disagree about what that means. Utopia seems impossible.
***If you don’t read anything else in this post, PLEASE at least hear me when I say this: STOP putting such horrible things in a positive light and trivializing such heart-breaking struggles. Do not spread this poison any further. Spread LOVE and ENCOURAGEMENT, not hate and destruction.
I don’t say this because I’m in any way better than anyone else. On the contrary, everything I write down is just as necessary for me to reflect on as I feel it is for me to write down.
Lately, I’ve felt all of these things so intensely in my own life. Isolation, loneliness, despair, frustration. The list is infinite! But that’s just it: I am a part of the problem. I focus so much on my own negative emotions that those things are all that I see. If you spend all your energy looking for or expecting something, you will find it. Ask and you will receive… That makes sense to us. It’s sound advice. But don’t forget that what you SEEK (even if it’s done subconsciously), you will find.
Focus on the bad and that’s all you will have.
Why is it that I’m so quick to make a list of things I’m frustrated about? Why does it have to feel good to vent or complain? Sometimes I feel justified! I feel like I have a righteous anger. I mean, even Jesus was angry with injustice and perversion. But here is the truth of the matter: we may have some examples of “righteous anger” in the Bible, but there are MANY more examples that show how bad it is to become and stay angry. Our own negativity is eating us alive.
Still, there is hope. Let’s go back to our little “experiment.” If you have ever spent lazy days on the beach or have gone on a awe-inspiring hiking trip, you know what I am talking about. There is beauty in the world around us, and there is nothing like spending time in nature to refocus and rejuvenate you. But why does this work?
Making time for quiet time to reflect on the beauty of creation is restful for our souls. Rediscovering our place in this world brings indescribable peace. All of us can agree on this, regardless of your faith journey or worldview.
Just a reminder: rest is such a necessity for us, our loving God originally mandated a day of TOTAL rest.
Think about how we live our lives today. Social media, TV shows, etc. It’s all so BUSY and fast moving. Most people my age prefer to binge watch their favorite tv shows. We don’t want to slow down. Everything is a button-press away for us. And fast-paced living is addicting. Society brainwashes us into thinking that it’s fun to overexert ourselves or that maybe we will “fit in” more if we move as fast as the people around us. We don’t TRULY rest. We run, jump, protest, binge, like, and share. But we don’t rest.
Slow down. Simply BE in His presence.
Here is something I have come to know in the last couple of months. Jesus is personable, and He just wants to get to know us… ALL of us. He loves us on the mountain top, and He loves us in our valleys. He loves us when we are HONEST with Him about ourselves. He knows your thoughts. He knows your heart better than you do! Why do we censor ourselves to the Creator? He knows the nitty-gritty. He knows the frustration in your heart.
Let it out. Cry in His presence. Groan in frustration. Expose the real you. But afterwards, and this is important, REST. Be still. Be silent. LISTEN.
If prayer is really a conversation, we should wait expectantly for a response.
Do all of this in the quiet of your own space, away from all distractions. It is only when we separate ourselves from the hustle of the world around us and all other sources of noise that we begin to hear Him speak to us in our time of need. God is there in that still, small voice. He will let you know what He really thinks about you.
How do you know that God is speaking? Here’s a hint: Always remember that HE LOVES YOU. He will only give you a message in love. He is never mean and won’t say anything hurtful. Even a rebuke will be done in love, and you will be encouraged by it. If you feel hopeless at the end of it, that’s not God. And if it’s not God, it doesn’t matter what the voice said. All things will one day pass away with the exception of GOD’S word.
This is who Jesus expects you to be. Someone who understands their own brokenness and lack of ability to change it. Someone who lays it all down and gives Him the opportunity to speak into their struggles. He wants to help. He doesn’t want to see us in pain, but we are forever doomed to repeat this cycle of pain and frustration if we don’t look to Him for council. He wants to be the friend that you bring everything to. He’s our closest friend and greatest confidant.
There is peace and joy found in knowing that we are not perfect and that God loves us despite our weaknesses. Meditate on that. Live life with that knowledge. It is ok to be who you are right now. God takes you the way that you are. Still, if you let Him, He will show you that there is so much more in you to love than there is to fix.
In all things, be blessed!
AG
