Just Cry Out for Help

Oh, boy, do I need an attitude adjustment. How is it when things are going well, suddenly, that can shift, and life can do a 180 degree change and flip you on your head? It’s easy to get caught up in the muck and the mire of life because there’s a lot of muck and mire in life. So what do I do to fix my attitude and pull myself out of the mud?

Right now, I want to be mad. People are making me mad. My child is making me mad. My husband is making me mad. My cat is making me mad. Life is complicated, so it is making me mad. There’s too much for one person to handle, and that causes me stress, which in turn makes me mad. Can you tell I’m not a lot of fun to be around today?

Here’s frustration #1: Okay, I have to be honest here. I had a whole paragraph written about one of my children and what that child was doing in the moment that was frustrating me, but I can’t throw my boy under the bus here in a public setting. I will just ask this . . . isn’t it hard to know how to give advice as a parent of adult children? Is it just me? My husband and I are incredibly blessed with wonderful children who made parenting very easy: they did their homework without any arguments, they went to church because they wanted to, they never lost any phones, they never wrecked any cars, they didn’t go to parties, and on and on. They were just very easy to parent! God truly blessed us! I just struggle a bit knowing when to give the advice and when to keep my mouth closed.

Here’s frustration #2: Again, I’m being honest here. I had another whole paragraph about my frustrations with my husband, and again, I’m not going to show you all that dirty laundry. Honestly, he really didn’t do much at all; I was just kind of in a mood. Truly, thinking back now, I can’t remember exactly what I was mad about. Remember friends, I am an unfinished woman, and I am SO not perfect!

Here’s frustration #3: This one I can write about because my cat can’t read! My cat is losing weight again and is peeing on things. He used to pee on things when he had urinary tract infections, but he also pees on things when he’s angry or something? I honestly can’t get into my cat’s head, so I don’t know what he’s thinking, and I don’t know why he peed on my husband’s backpack or on another cooler bag that we have. He peed on my son’s backpack earlier this summer as well. It’s not fun to clean up! Then I worry about him also because he has hyperthyroidism, and in March, he seemed to be doing better; his numbers were good and he had put on two pounds. But he seems skinny again now, so I am wondering if the medicine isn’t working now. Arrrghhh!

Here’s frustration #4: Life is getting complicated. I have my family, my job, my friends, my church stuff, and then I have a new endeavor, which is actually a dream coming to fruition, and it’s scary. God’s opening up new opportunities and possibilities, but now I have to consider things like what type of business do we want to be, and how much do we want to spend on things like websites, and how do Facebook algorithms affect who sees our posts and who doesn’t. I don’t know anything about these things, so it’s all new and a bit frightening.

I am a controller and a status-quo girl. I like to control my world and everything in my world, and I am not a fan of change. Can anyone relate? Seriously, why can’t Facebook make setting up a business page easy? Why can’t my family members just understand that when I give advice it’s because I love them? Why can’t my cat figure out that he needs to pee in the litter box ALL of the time? Help!

So maybe that’s what I should have done in the first place. Instead of beating my head against a wall (figuratively, but I did consider it) and fussing and fretting about everyone’s stuff, why didn’t I just turn to God and cry out to Him? He knew what I was thinking, and He knew what I was feeling. He knew my frustrations, and He even understood my anger. But He needed me to ask for help. Why do I try to fix everything myself? I am grossly underqualified for that job!

If we’re talking about qualifications, let’s look at God’s qualifications: all present, all knowing, all powerful, creator of the heavens and of the Earth, master, redeemer, Father. . . and so on. Okay, so He’s everything, and I am not. He can part a sea and make blind people see and tear down walls to cities–I can’t even make my cat pee in a litter box. Wow, I made myself laugh a little bit there, which I think is a good sign. I’m not nearly as mad now.

It feels good to admit how I am feeling, and it feels good to realize that I need help, God’s help. I have a lovely family and wonderful friends, but they can’t fix these things for me or help me to stop worrying. Only God can do those things.

So, God, let’s do this. I’m giving all of these frustrations to you–the four I listed above and the others that I am sure are there just below the surface. I want you to take them from me. I don’t want to feel angry or stressed or hurt or sad; I just want to feel your peace.

Philippians 4:6-7 (NIV) says this: “6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” What a lovely passage! There’s a lot going on there: there are things that we are asked to do, and then there are things that will happen in accordance with our obedience.

First, I must stop being anxious, not just about the big things, but about “anything.” I must stop worrying. Then I must tell God what I need, and I need to do that thankfully in prayer in “every situation.” Oooo, that’s a tough one. Be thankful in every situation? Even when I’m mad or sad or anxious? Yes, especially when I am mad or sad or anxious. I need to talk to God and tell him about all of these feelings, and give Him thanks for listening or for being amazing or for the beautiful sunset or for giving me a loving husband and amazing children. I can surely do that!

Then the good stuff happens! This is the best part! It says that God’s peace will “guard” my mind and my heart, and it says that God’s peace is above and beyond “all understanding,” so that’s pretty cool! God's peace is even better than what I can imagine it to be! And the kicker is that all of this happens “in Christ Jesus” because Jesus is my savior. Now if that doesn’t make me smile, I don’t know what will!

Thank you, God. Life will still be filled with muck and mire, and I will always be an unfinished woman while here on the Earth, but maybe, just maybe, next time I will come to you first and cry out to you, “Help!” And I know you will answer my cry and bring me peace!

Thanks for reading, friends!

Love,

Julie