Shut it down.

Dealing with the unexpected can be a bit overwhelming sometimes. First of all, we do not see it coming and secondly we do not have a plan. If any of you are like me, you know that having a plan is important. I like to have a plan. It may not always be a good plan but I like to have a plan. This means when the unexpected happens, all my pretty plans go out the window. 

When the unexpected happens we can be tempted to just give up and go on autopilot and just let life happen to us. That is not what we are created to do. As God’s kids we are not by design passive. We can certainly choose to be passive but living in us is God Himself. The Great I AM. The risen King. He is not passive. He is active. He is always active. He is always working. 

Galatians 6:9 says, “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” It’s easy to limit what the harvest will be. But the harvest spoken of in this verse can be anything. When life happens to us, we cannot give up. We must keep doing what we know to do. We keep praying. We keep seeking God. We sit in His Presence. We do the things we know to do. It’s not a time to curl up in a ball and pretend that your problems do not exist. They exist and they are real. But at the same time, God also exists and He is very real. 

A lot of things have happened to me recently that slowly and over a period of time, I was giving up. Not consciously but just growing weary and tired. Tired of waiting. Tired of hoping. Tired of fighting. It happens. We are human. Add to that, I tested positive for Covid 19. You’d think when you have stuff going on the devil will leave you alone. No. He doesn’t work that way. He really does not care about us, he hates us. His life mission is this: to steal from us, destroy us or kill us (see John 10:10). He is always working extra hard at that. So, no. The devil is not your friend. If you ignore him he doesn’t go away either. He gets worse. But if you are curled up throwing a pity party you are not going to see all the destruction happening around you. 

So get up, stop feeling sorry for yourself. Yes, I know this is hard to hear. We like to throw pity parties. But the pity party will send invites to guests you don’t want to entertain. Despair is always on the guest list but doesn’t come alone. Despair brings depression, depression always asks his cousin hopelessness to come through, then anxiety catches wind of this party and anxiety never wants to miss a party… the longer the party lasts the longer the guest list. So shut it down. 

Yes it is not fair. Yes, it is bad. Yes it hurts and your pain is very real. But you are a fighter. You are a fighter so get up. Start doing the things you know to do. Start declaring the word of God over your situation. Your unexpected may be different to my unexpected but our God is the same. He is good and He is great. He is mighty and He is strong. God is all powerful. He didn’t cause the unexpected. But He is God over it too. If you will give it to Him, He knows what to do with it. 

God is good. You need to believe that deep in your heart. If you do not give up on doing what you know to do and trusting God, if you do not give up on God, you will get to the other side of the unexpected. You will win.

Love and blessings, 

Melissa Tsingano.