HOW DO YOU REACT WHEN LIFE DOESN’T GO THE WAY YOU WANT?

HOW DO YOU REACT WHEN LIFE DOESN’T GO THE WAY YOU WANT?

Part 2

I often think that men and women might react in different ways. Some men become quiet and isolate themselves. They do not talk and they cannot say why and they refuse to talk. If a man has been to a doctor and received a bad report or he lost his job, it might take a long time before he tells this to his wife. Some might even lie and say that there is nothing wrong if they are asked why they are so quiet. They might need time to accept the bad news before they want to share it with others or they might want to protect their partner from worrying about the bad news. Other men might gather the family and share the bad news with everybody and if he is Christian, he might suggest that they gather to pray. If children have parents that seek God when they have problems, they will learn that God is the solution to their problems. The Lord is saying that we should come to Him when we are heavy laden and He will give us rest. (Matthew 11:28)

I heard about a woman returning from her doctor with a diagnosis of cancer in her stomach and she had to be operated within a few days. She asked her husband to buy a tambourine and he was really wondering why she needed that now. She wanted to praise God and she spent the entire weekend to praise God using the tambourine. This might not be the most common way to react, but it gives me some thoughts: Maybe I should change my way of reacting? The operation was a success and she was healed.

Some people have a need to talk a lot about negative news. Talk if you have a need to talk, but do not allow the devil to push you into a bubble of worries that might never come to pass. Matthew 6 says that we should not worry about the day tomorrow. Every day has its own worries. When we receive an unexpected message, I think we should be honest to those close to us. As Christians we have a Bible full of promises and we should read these and keep them when we have a difficult time.

My sister lost her husband in a few moments on a New year evening many years ago. It was totally a surprise and a great shock. When I talked to her afterwards, I said to her that she had to  make a decision to live. Life had to go on. “I have already done that”, she said. She naturally grieved and she was crying, but she lived for many years after that loss. We are allowed to go through a time of sorrow, but we must complete God’s plans for us here on earth. Some people ask me how they can help people in sorrow. My advice is to

ask those grieving how they want to be comforted and helped. Do they want your company or do they want to be alone? Do they need practical help? Do not be afraid to ask.

How do you react when somebody talk behind your back or say things that are not true? I think that most of us get sad. If it is possible, I think that we should talk to the person doing this. We must forgive him or her. If you want something good to come out of it, you must not go to him or her with an attitude of anger or accusation. If you have heard it from the third person, ask the person what they have said and maybe why they have said it. Conflicts are sometimes caused by misunderstanding and it is therefore necessary to talk about it.

Many countries have a committee dealing with conflicts. They deal with conflicts before it comes to court. Some people might be so wounded that they really cannot talk about it without a neutral third person present. I believe that many conflicts can be solved that way. As Christians we must remember that we do not fight flesh and blood, but principalities and powers. (Ephesians 6:12) We must also remember that forgiving might be a long process. Our emotions might be slow to forgive. We do not forgive saying that what they did were ok, but we forgive in spite of. The Bible says in Romans 12:19 that the revenge belong to the Lord. When we really know that God is a righteous God, we can easily leave the revenge to God.

If you experience injustice as a pattern in your life, ask God if there is a curse over you or your family. Jesus has given authority to brake curses. He has already done it on the Cross. The same goes for sicknesses running in the families. It is written that Jesus bore them. We do not need to carry something that He has carried already. When the Word writes that we should suffer for the sake of the Gospel, God doesn’t send sicknesses to us. They are taken care of by the Son, but we might have to endure contempt or maybe people will lie about us because we stand up for Jesus and The Word. In Sweden some midwives lost their jobs because they refused to do abortion and a teacher lost her job since she reused to call a girl hen which mean a neutral sex. That is to suffer for Christ.

We read in 3.John 1:2 that John wanted Gaius to be well in all areas of his life. The same goes for us. We do know that when something is wrong, it is not God sending sicknesses nor is He cursing us or steal from us. He loves us and He wants all the best for us. We can therefor turn o Him when we have some difficulties. It doesn’t help us to become depressed. We are allowed to feel sorry, but we should not be in bed for many days feeling sorry for ourselves. We lose our joy which is our strength then and we might see any solutions. Thank God that He is with you and He will come with solutions to your problems.

WE NEED HIM IN SORROW AND IN JOY.

Mother Else