It’s not about me

I have this terrible habit. Whenever something bad happens to me or anyone in my family–especially one of my three children–I spend hours, sometimes days, trying to figure out exactly what I did wrong. I rehearse my words and analyze my actions and worry every aspect of the issue until I make myself sick.

Today, I was reading in Genesis 25 about Rebecca, when her twins were struggling within her (and don’t you wonder what that felt like?) She asked herself, “Why is this happening to me?”

And God’s response was that the babies were struggling and would always struggle. Essentially, the Lord said, “Honey, this has nothing to do with you.”

Today, I saw that in a whole different light. The issues she faced were not a result of some mistake she’d made, some horrible sin she’d committed, some careless word she’d uttered. The trial she was going through was not about her.

Hmm. Maybe the trials I’m facing are not always about me. Maybe I couldn’t actually prevent every problem by being, well, perfect. Maybe I should take James 1:2-4 to heart. “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”

So my goal for today is to try to consider all of the messy issues of my life “pure joy.” And maybe they won’t feel that way, but that the Lord will use them to make me and those I love mature and complete–that something to smile about.