We’ve all been there. We finally feel like we’ve gotten our balance. We are walking on solid ground. Things might not be going absolutely grandiose perfecto, but they are going. We take what we can get and relish the stability. When suddenly…
WHOMP!!! Someone (or something) rips the rug right out from underneath us.
Yep. We all have ’em in our lives. Those dreaded people/things that knock us completely off-balance and throw things out of whack.
I “fondly” call them the “rug-ripper-outters-from-underneath-us-ow-that-hurts.” That’s kind of a long name to refer back to in a blog post, so for the purposes of this post, I will refer to those people/events/things as “Rug Rippers” aka R-squared for short.
If only we could have as much fun as this guy when we lose our balance…
Depending on the season of life, I seem to have a lot of rug-ripping moments. Sure, I bet some of that can be contributed to the fact that I am incredibly uncoordinated and trip UP the stairs on a regular occasion… but it also comes with the territory of being a Christian, an army wife, a minister, a friend…
Heck, just LIVING and BREATHING sometimes seems to be the ultimate set up for a rug-ripping experience.
It happened to my hubby and I last Friday night at 10pm. We were finishing up an evening of rare together time at a holiday military function. All in all, it was a decent night and we were treasuring the time we had with one another. Things were going smoothly, we had survived another rough phase in army life over the last month or so. PRAISE. GOD.
Then a few unexpected phone calls and some changed (yet previously un-communicated) schedules later, the rug was ripped right out from underneath us. WHOMP!!
We were faced with a decision. Do we let this unexpected circumstance derail all of the blessings that we experienced from God in the previous hours? Or do we somehow engineer a way to recover from our frustration?
We silently pondered (ok, steamed would probably be a better word for me) for a few minutes. We arrived home and I found myself in a battle– my flesh was frustrated and ticked, the Enemy was all up in my Kool-aid trying to get me to be upset at my husband even though he had about as much control over the situation as I did. All the while, God was telling me what I should do: Release it to Him.
Barn and I headed to bed shortly thereafter. We have a policy not to go to bed angry so we talked and vented for a while (fortunately, we managed not to get tick at each other– thanks, Jesus.) And then my Beloved suggested the perfect remedy to restore our balance that the R-squared event caused.
“Sharita… I know it’s really hard and we might not feel like it right now. But let’s pray about this.”
Confession: There was not a single bone in my body that desired to pray. I mean, I was MAD. Fortunately, there WAS a spot in my heart that KNEW I had to… So we prayed. Together. Out loud.
As we said amen, our balance was restored. Not even kidding. Immediate. And even with the jacked-up schedule we were facing the next day, our weekend wasn’t “ruined.”
I have continued reflect on this “rug-ripping” experience. And God gave me this vision. We live in a fallen world. Which means we are ALL going to be knocked of balance from all directions. Picture it:
If the rug is ripped out from behind us… we end up falling forward… On our knees.
If the rug is ripped out from in front of us… We end up flat on our backs, wind knocked out of us… peering towards the heavens.
Both positions are IDEAL to pray, taking the issue or circumstance to God.
It might take a hot minute (or twelve) for us to recover from our fall. But if we go to God– He will help us back to our feet. He WILL restore us. AND our balance.
No matter how big, unexpected or painful your rug-ripping experience is… God is sovereign over all. Nothing surprises Him. And when we are at our most unbalanced and weakest– that is when we are closest to God.
Restored Daily,
SGK
“He got us out of the mess we’re in and restored us to where he always wanted us to be. And he did it by means of Jesus Christ.” ~Romans 3:24 MSG
