“Tag….. You’re It!”

My sister, Kathy, is so much wiser than she believes that she is. We recently had a chance to sit down and talk about different things that are going on in both of our families and at the very end of our time together, she spoke about how life is like a wrestling match (not that either of us watched it!). Saying that what if we can imagine ourselves in the ring and that we’re getting pummeled by life and all the things that occur that can beat us up and bring us down. Outside of the ring is your partner, the one person, that if you can tag them, then that person can go into the ring and finish the match for you.

Kathy reminded me that Jesus is like that. He stands outside of the ring and encourages us to reach out to Him. He wants us to say “Tag….you’re it!” so that He can give us that respite that we need. He doesn’t promise that we will never have hardships or even discouragement in this life. What He does promise is that He will be the one to carry us through the fight and He will help us to get to the other side. (Related post: In confronting the darkness, we can begin to see the light…).

Another thing that Kathy reminded me of is that it’s okay to be mad at God about your situation just as long as you continue to talk to Him. Don’t shut the door or even close the window to that communication. Trust me, we really, really need Him to help us to get through this life. Just think about where we would be if we didn’t have Him to lean on?

So what did I learn from this? I can’t always say that I’m happy with what I’ve had to go through, but I’m understanding more and more that I didn’t choose this journey. God chose it for me. There’s a purpose that He has for me and I don’t need to always know where I’m going. I have to trust in Him to get me where He needs me to be. (Related post: Which is the better choice, the destination or the journey?). I’m also discovering that I have been able to look back and see what He wants me to see after I’ve gotten through it. And He might even be using me to help someone else. Isn’t that something?

What can you gain from this? God doesn’t give up on us even as shallow and unworthy as we can be, sometimes. Since God loves us, even despite that, we should know that we can open up ourselves to Him. He sees all the bad things about us and still He wants to take our burdens. He wants to give us hope for the future. We just have to be willing to say, “Tag…you’re it!”