When faced with problems, the first thing you want is to get out; whether it be a dead-end job, failed relationship, or financial hardship. But the longer I live, I see that sometimes the only way to get out is to go through. So, what’s the difference? Take a look below.
GETTING OUT
Here we see you running along, going about your life. Doing your own thing until you fell into a financial hole. That hole could be due to a job loss, divorce, sickness, addiction, or conviction; to name a few. Notice, immediately after you fell, you mysteriously got out and finished the race. In other words, you quickly got out of that mess and are now living the dream. Along the way, you received no guidance or instruction from God and neither did you experience any other setbacks while you…continued…to do…your own thing. Yay you! This scenario is ideal. However, more times than not, life doesn’t happen that way. Instead of magically, mysteriously, or quickly getting out of that bind, you may have to recalibrate; stop doing your own thing and go through it. This is because what the illustration does not show you, is that after that pot of gold, there’s another hole.
And if you keep doing your own thing, you’ll continue to dig yourself into one hole after another; simply because you were looking for something quick, inexpensive, and easy to do; preferably something that didn’t involve God. Unbeknownst, to you, that plan will never work.
GOING THROUGH
Going through is a lot different than getting out. In that, going through takes a lot of time and a lot of God. It looks similar to this:
Perhaps you believe that all you need is one come up, one lump sum, or one person to come along and get you out of that situation. And this is what weakens your faith. You want God to be your fairy godfather, wave His magic wand and poof, the bind is over. But can I tell you something? Wake up and face the hard truth that you’re going to have to go through that financial nightmare. Because if you don’t, you’re going to remain stuck, waiting for that one opportunity, that one moment, or that one person. How do I know? Because for well over a decade, I too was at a stand-still. Anticipating and waiting for someone to discover my unusually gift of writing and speaking and usher me onto the stage for God to use me. But you know what? They didn’t. No knight-in-shining-armor came to rescue, marry, and take me away to some far away castle where we’d live happily ever after. Which is why I’m telling you to wake up from the fairy tale life you’ve envisioned and face the fact that you kissed too many frogs; which means you might still have to pay for your own porridge, and live amongst the seven dwarfs that plague your crime ridden neighborhood.
No Sweetie, you’re going to have to wipe the spittle from the corner your mouth and wash your face with the harsh reality that you’re going to have to go through this financial nightmare. That may sound harsh, but the sooner you accept the truth, the better. Because if you don’t, you’ll remain stuck; waiting for that one moment; not progressing, not moving forward, or doing anything productive that’ll change your situation.
I know that may be hard to hear because right not you may not have bus fare, lunch money for the kids, may be facing foreclosure, eviction, homelessness, a conviction or worse. And usually when faced with those set of circumstances, the only thing you want God to do is get you out. And don’t get me wrong. He can and sometimes will do the miraculous. So, keep believing for your miracle. But while you’re waiting, wake up, acknowledge, and deal with where you are because you have to go through it. Why? Because there is no other way out! In fact, the only way out is to go through. So why don’t you…
Pray this out loud with me: Heavenly Father, please forgive me for getting myself into this mess. I’ve prayed for You to get me out. But I’m beginning to see that I must go through. But You said that Your grace is sufficient. So I ask You for the grace to go through this quickly. In Jesus’ name.
Great job! You may not have realized it, but you needed to hear yourself admit that this is your fault. Your honesty just placed you in a position to receive the solution and grace required to go through this time of financial difficulty. In our next issue, you’ll discover what to do while you’re there.
Be sure to get your copy of The Do-It-Yourself Guide out of Homeless today!
Comments