Have you ever been in that season of life when everything seems to be falling apart? We almost wonder how it is possible that so many different people, situations, relationships, and things can all begin to collide and simultaneously blow up!
I have been there. Seemingly by nothing we do, everything around us starts to go haywire almost like a vast conspiracy bent on destroying any remaining sanity, hope or motivation that we might have.
So what do you do? Should you hide your head in the sand until it passes by? Should you try to put your chin up and your shoulders back and march directly into it?
I believe every single person should ask these 3 questions when chaos erupts and everything conspires to rob our peace and joy:
- “Is it possible that everything is going so wrong because of my own choices?” Whether because of ignorance or foolishness or selfishness, am I in this place because of something I did (or didn’t do)? It is so easy to look for someone else to blame. From the Garden of Eden forward, humans have looked for someone they could blame instead of taking responsibility for their own actions. As painful as it is to look within and then consider past words, attitudes, behaviors and even inactivity, it is important to prayerfully discern what part we each have played in self-sabotaging our lives.
- “Is it possible that all these things are happening because the devil is prowling around in my life and trying to steal, kill and destroy?” Scripture plainly tells us to be on our guard because of the enemy of our souls. Are the problems that are taking place because of spiritual warfare? Of course spiritual warfare indicates that in some way we pose a threat to the devil either because of something we are currently doing (in agreement with God’s word and plan) or because of a path we are on which will lead us to God. So if we are living a completely reprobate, pagan, selfish and sinful lifestyle, the devil doesn’t have to destroy us, we will do it just fine on our own. But if we are seeking God and His righteousness and His glory, we need to watch out for fiery darts of accusation and condemnation as well as temptation, traps and outright spiritual attacks.
- “Is it possible that these things are happening because God is trying to get my attention?” It is crazy how easily it seems that our mind and our focus drift away from God. And yet because of His great love He is willing to do whatever it takes to get us to hear Him, notice Him and return to Him, knowing that when we are united with Him that is the best thing for us. This does not mean that God is the one causing the bad things to happen in our lives but He may simply be withdrawing His hand of mercy, protection and deliverance. He does this at times, in order that we might realize that we have withdrawn from Him or that we have been quenching and grieving His Spirit or taking Him for granted, instead of being open to Him and faithful to Him. So many times throughout the Bible God withdraws His hand of mercy in order that people will realize the futility of their own behavior, the foolishness of their choices and the emptiness of their life without Him.
If your life seems to be falling apart and everything seems to be imploding or exploding around you, prayerfully ask these three questions so that God may show you what you need to know, how you need to grow and where you need to go. It of course is possible that the situations in your life are connected at least partially to more than one reason. But we need to ask the questions and allow God to instruct us.
I hate it when my life is falling apart and it deeply grieves my spirit when I see other people in places of deep pain and agony, but when we discover some of the why it can help and of course asking the Lord “what now” and “what are you teaching me” are fantastic next steps as well.
Let us pray that God will give us wisdom and understanding, even as we seek Him as our Savior, our refuge and our rest. Remember, Jesus told us we could take heart in the midst of all the trouble, because He has already overcome the world!
Pastor Michael Johnson 