A few days ago when I was hanging up some fairy lights for a youth service my team was preparing for, I was getting really frustrated at my wasted efforts and my inability to untangle them.
I kept trying to get out all of the knots, but for some reason, I was just really struggling.
Some of the things that have happened in the last 2 weeks in my life have felt me feeling really unsure, confused and anxious.
The harder I tried, the more frustrated I got.
As tears were starting to come to my eyes, my hands stopped, and this thought snuck into my head..
"My life is just like these tangled string of fairy lights."
As I stood there looking at all the tangles, and how much it resembled my perception of my life, my friend Anna came up to me to see what was wrong.
My voice was squeakier then I intended when I gave her the tangled mess of fairy lights, and said, "See this right here? See all these tangles? This is what my life looks like right now..."
I expected her to give me a hug, say stuff like it will all be okay, keep your chin up.. blah blah blah
But what she did was what really stuck with me over these past couple of days.
"They may be tangled, but they are still shining.
What makes them beautiful? That they are plugged in, and are brightly shining"
She then told me that no matter how confused things may look right now, as long as I am plugged into my source, which is Jesus,
I will shine no matter what.
She then took them from me, and began to patiently, with quick and gentle hands, untangle the mess for me.
What an amazing picture of what Jesus does for us!
No matter how unsure or confused me and you may be feelings right now, Jesus is always willing to take the tangled string of fairy lights known as our life, and untangle them for us.
But the amazing thing is that even when we are tangled, we can still shine and give light to our surroundings.
I was so focused on the tangles in the fairy lights that I didn't realize how beautiful they looked anyway! They were still making that dark room bright and beautiful.
These are the 2 questions I asked myself that I would also challenge you to ask yourself:
1. Are your fairy lights plugged in?
What is the source that your strength and energy come from? Is it a failing or unfailing source?
From my personal experience, Jesus is the only source I can plug into that will never burn out. There will never be a power outage where He will not be able to provide me with strength, energy, life, and love. Everything else I tried to plug into eventually ran out of power and could not sustain me.
Jesus is the power source!
2. What are the things that you are feeling frustrated trying to untangle right now?
I think that every person has different knots and struggles that they go through trying to untangle, but I think that all of us have at some point felt like we cant do this anymore. The harder we try, the more tangled it seems to get, right? The more our hands and hearts start to fail!
I made the decision to stop trying. I decided to hang the mess over.
I have some control issues, so this is really hard for me.
Unless I am in total control of the things that are happening, I think that it is really hard for me to feel peace. So, please hear me when I say, I know how hard it is to hand the tangled mess over. But honestly, the feeling of relief and peace I got when I handed the fairy lights to Anna and the things that I have been confused about to Jesus was worth the fight it took to do it.
Whatever you are confused about, I dare you to make a choice to tell Jesus what you are feeling and tell Him that He can have it all.
How? Make a decision to stop worrying about it. Easier said then done... For me, my mind is a battleground. I have to decide what I am not allowed to worry and be anxious about. Yes, it is a fight, but it is a fight worth having!
I found such peace when I found this gem in the Bible where God tells His people,
"Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the Lord, your God, the Holy One of Isreal, your Savior"
(Isaiah 43:1-4)
I find it funny that God doesn't say IF you pass through the fire and rivers, but WHEN. Sometimes in life the tangled are inevitable (just think of your headphones that you have to untangle every time you get them out!) but He says that He will be there to untangle them if you let Him.
p.s.
Don't forget that no matter what is going on in your life right now, no matter how tangled things may appear, that you are still shining brightly! The darkness in the room leaves because of you; because of Jesus who is inside of you! As long as you are plugged Him, He will never let you stop shining. It might take time, but...
HE HAS TIME!
God bless you, anonymous reader. I am praying for you to encounter the passionate love of Jesus even more today. I am praying that you have the courage to plug into Him if you aren't already, and have the courage to hang over your tangled mess to Him.
Keep on SHINING!!!
-VIKTORIYOUS
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