Recently, my husband chatted with another small business owner here in Galveston. The phone rang during their conversation. When our friend finished the call, he said to my husband, “I can’t wait for the day when I don’t get a call from a creditor. I try to explain we’re still recovering from a hurricane, and they always tell me the hurricane was two years ago and I need to quit making excuses. They don’t understand.”
They don’t understand.
Do you feel that way about the storms in your life? You spend your days trying to rebuild, trying to shape the new normal into something which works. You’re trying to get your life on track. You think you’re making progress…until someone puts an arbitrary timeline on your recovery.
Her husband died a year ago. Why does she always talk about him? She should move on.
They got foreclosed on, but they’ve found a nice place to live now. They should be thankful for what they’ve got.
Sure, he lost his corporate job, but Home Depot’s hired him. He’s got a job. Isn’t that good enough?
There’s not a timeline on recovery. There’s not a calendar for rebuilding. But how do you convey that to people without sounding whiny or stuck in the past?
You don’t.
You heard me. Quit trying to argue with people who haven’t been there. They haven’t been there. It’s that simple. In the Bible, there are so many stories of God’s people who did His work while the naysayers surrounded them. In 1Chronicles 28:20, David says to Solomon:
“Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD God, my God, is with you.”
Rebuilding your life after life’s storms takes hard work. God has never promised us it will be easy. Day after day, he will ask us to get up and put one foot in front of the other. He will ask us to find beauty from ashes. He will ask us to repay our debts. He will ask us to not sit idle, but to find a job. He will ask us to clean the sludge the storm left behind.
He says it will take strength and courage. He says we must not live in fear or discouragement–which often comes in the form of others in our lives. Sometimes, we just have to tune them out and keep moving forward. We must know that He is our strength and our cheerleader. He knows where we’ve been…and more importantly, He knows where we’re going. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. He did the hard work of salvation, even when mocked and doubted along the way.
The same God who walked with Solomon and Christ through their own struggles is the same eternal God who walks with you today. Take a few minutes today to ask God what HIS timeline is for you. Then ask Him for the courage to throw away the world’s calendar.
