Making Lemonade

We've all had an experience we seemingly cannot get past. Maybe someone has hurt us so deeply that the pain still stays in our hearts. Maybe a terrible event has left us thinking about nothing else. Maybe, even, a series of disappointments has left us down and out.

Lemons....

These proverbial lemons leave a sour taste in our mouths. It can be hard to move past these kinds of situations. They linger with us like citric acid in our teeth, and eat away at our joyous spirit. There is only one way, I have realized, to deal with lemons...bring it back to God.

I am naturally a very optimistic person, and I can usually find something good in every situation. However, I have been in situations that I have had a hard time moving past. In these situations, after I have tried everything in my power to see good and still failed, I flip the situation upside down and look at it with a fresh perspective. This perspective being: "what can this teach me about God?"

Now, it's easy to be engulfed in a great situation and think "what can this teach me about God?" If it is a great situation, the answer is probably something to the tune of "He's beautiful! He's good! He hears my prayers!" But how can a bad situation teach us about God's personality? How can we praise God even in times like these?

Hypothetically,
What if, say, you applied for a job- a job you had always wanted to do? You were so excited after your interview; you knew you had just nailed it. But then, what if immediately after the (awesome) interview, they called you to tell you that they had given the job to another applicant? Not only that, but you found out later down the road that they had lied to you about the reason why you did not receive the job. And what if, (game-changer) this job was with your church?? Ouch.

Forgive me, that really is the best hypothetical situation I could come up with. But even so, I'm sure it sparked a memory of a time I'm your life when you have been genuinely hurt or even betrayal- a hurt so deep that it still lingers.

Good. Take that memory, and reframe it in this way: "I am thankful for this situation, because it reminds me of how (fill in the blank) God is. For example, in my hypothetical situation, I would say "I am thankful for this situation, because it reminds me that my God is fair, kind, truthful, and completely pure of heart.

This may be an unusual way of dealing with situations...I don't know. But I do know it has worked for me. It helps me refocus on what I need to focus on, and it helps me get past what I do not. It also gives me a burst of joyous energy. So next time life hands you a Spiritual lemon, flip the situation and look at it in this new, refreshing way. Take those things and make some lemonade! :))


Hang loose dudes,
becca