Commit Your works to the Lord,

And your plans will be established.

Proverbs 16:3 (New American Standard Bible)


 

Sometimes Life Seems So Unfair

NOTE: This is not a post directed at someone who is in the midst of dealing with profound grief.

            It was a dark rainy day and my mood mirrored the weather. Bowed down with feeling disconnected, sadness over a loss, wishing I had children and those bonds and ties, I took to my chair to pray and try to figure out how to get out of this glum state.

            Some people might say I was having a pity party. Call it what you want, but often we need to be honest about what’s happening in order to find a resolution. While I knew that I have much for which to be thankful, what I possessed didn’t abate that profound sense of desolation exacerbated by the sense I couldn’t do anything about it. When we are young, the world and opportunities are before us, but as we get older, the reality of unanswered dreams is real. Does this mean we become unhappy and unfulfilled?

            Somewhere in pondering this sense of sadness, my thinking shifted as I realized how much power I possess to influence my future. Part of that reality was the certainty that beyond that moment I wasn’t guaranteed my life, health, or anything else. I realized I could squander time in sadness over what is missing from my life or enhance what is meaningful to me, my community and others.

            Yesterday marked the end of the life of Colin Powell. This was a man who didn’t start out with all of the advantages that would help him to rise to fame, rather he was a man who took what life had given him, gave it his best and gave back to his country and community. In the giving he received many honors and rose to become a great statesman.

            Sometimes we need to briefly acknowledge the present sadness and then realize that God has a purpose and plan even in this time. In finding His best we must acknowledge our personal power and ability to enhance the future and then capitalize on those strengths to move forward.

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