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Tuesday, February 10, 2009

What Do You Do When Everything Goes Bad?

We all have some bad days. Bad days are when you get a flat tire on the way to work as the rain pours or you have someone tell you off when you thought you were doing something really special for them. Those are bad days.

Every once in a while everything goes wrong. You lose your job; the car breaks down, your child is on drugs, you find out someone you care about has cancer and your spouse leaves you after piling up a bunch of bills. It seems that everything is going wrong. What can you do about it?

First, you should ask yourself whether or not you believe God cares about you. Of course, I know He does. If you come to that same conclusion you should pray about each of these things. Throw those problems upon Him. He wants them. He will carry you through the time.

You should ask for wisdom. Some problems must be lived through. Others can be averted. Make sure you continue to ask Him for directions until you receive an answer. Do whatever He says without delay. Some times the very act of having something that God wants you to do will make things better all by itself.

You may not be able to make your problems go away but you can make them better. If your spouse has left you can get with others who have had the same thing happen to them. This connection will reveal that you can make it through this time. If you think your house is about to be repossessed you can go to specialists to help keep that from happening. Many disasters can be avoided if you take steps to make them better rather than thinking they are totally unsolvable.

Research your problems. Know as much as you can about that problem. Learning from many sources will help you discern what will work and what won't. It will help you refuse "help" that is coming from someone who simply wants to take advantage of you. It will reveal common misconceptions of your problem that your friends will share. They want to help but often they are trying to do so with what they have heard. They have never been in your shoes. They don't always give the best solutions.

Join a group that helps with problem. If your child is on drugs find a Narcotics Anonymous group and make their meetings. Join a cancer survivors group to help sort out your feelings. Getting around others who have your problem helps you sort out some answers among others. Social interaction is important when everything goes wrong.

Don't expect a white knight to rescue you. Most of the things you must do must be done by you. Make sure that you are busy working on the problem. Sitting at home waiting to win the lottery will just make you older.

Realize that it may take some time to get out of the problem. It is not an impossible problem to solve. It will take effort and a lot of prayer.

Each day continue to talk with God. He loves you more than anyone you know. He will ultimately supply whatever you really need.

Never give up. Not ever, ever, ever. Make this your resolve and you will not go into the depression that will make things so much worse.

Lastly, remember the last solved problem that you thought was impossible. Do this with each of your problems and you will see that they don't look like the big, bad giants you once thought they were.

3 comments:

AV said...

I am praying... I've prayed St. Jude's Novena... I've applied places, have had several interviews... and I'm still unemployed... I have faith that something will come along... but I'm afraid/saddened... I love it here and don't want to move again...

Created to Give God Glory said...

It is hard. In fact, it is very hard some times. That is why we must go to God. Only He can carry the burden. I am convinced that He will carry you too.

Unknown said...

When everything goes bad, I pray specifically. I also pray for what benefits our heavanly father, and ofcourse I thank him for my many existing blessings. And I also put effort into solving my problems.
It takes "critical thinking" when saying a prayer. For example: I pray to soften the heart of my boss when asking for Sundays off so I may attend church. (I got Sundays off) I know that our heavenly father feels that family is important too. So I pray for oportunities of work that will fit my schedule around my children, thier school and thier activities.(I got a m-f day job doing security! how rare is that?!)
I feel that the phrases "soften the heart of..." and "for an oportunity of..." are very important when communicated with our heavanly father. I dont think he just wants you to pray for a "car" or a "house" but rather to show a need of these things that also happens to benefit him. Then pray for a job oportunity to provide that money needed to obtain a car or house.
Praying for "understanding of his plan" (for when things go wrong) is another important phrase along with praying to "think with a clear mind..." and for "my mind to retain the information of what was taught to me..."(for taking test at school or winning in sports). During the process of this "critical thinking" of what you want to ask or give thanks for in a prayer, you learn to be humble, willing to learn and to have faith, and you gain wisdom. In return for learning all these things, our heavanly father answers our prayers because he knows you are subconsciously trying to be like Jeses(...which is the purpose of life, right?).
Effort is a MUST, when solving your problems. I met a man who told me this: A religious man was waching the news one day and saw the warnings of a flood and prayed. He, then,thought to himself "God will save me." While everyone else was gathering their belongings to get away from the flood, the religious man climb the roof, watching the water rising saying "God will save me" The water kept rising and a rescue boat came by and said "climb in, before you drown!" The man replied "Don't worry bout me. God will save me." So the boat left and the water rised. he climbed higher then another boat came by saying "We are here to rescue you! get in!". The man said "Don't worry bout me. God will save me." The boat left and the water rised. The man climb on the top of the chimney and a helecopter came by and threw down a rope saying "Grab on! We're here to save you!" The man replied "Don't worry bout me. God will save me." The helcopter left and the water rose til the man drowed and died...In heaven he asked God "Why didn't you save me??" and God replied "What do you mean? I sent two boats and a plane...." You must take steps to solving your problems and you must reconize and oportunity when it comes to you because it IS the answer to your prayers.
I feel that praying specifically and giving effort, helps out when everything goes bad for me.