It’s our choice whether we stay stuck in our hurt or get renewed in our hearts. —Lysa Terkeurst

I was stuck for longer than I’d like to admit.  Stuck in the pain and heartbreak.  Stuck in the injustice of it all.  Stuck in the fact that I am a rule follower and always (try) do the right things even when it’s hard.   I couldn’t wrap my brain around how I ended up in this set of circumstances.  Thoughts of, ‘what did I do’ and ‘does He even love me’ came into mind.  

It was in the middle of that stuck-ness that I realized that I couldn’t come up with an answer; not the correct one, anyway.  The truth is sometimes things happen because of what God will do with it.  He loves us—always, even in the moments when we feel like He just doesn’t.  

I could embrace and grow through this hurtful season or stay stuck in all this storm was throwing my way.

I would love to tell you that I chose to grow through it all.  But the truth is, I didn’t want that.  Not at first anyway.  I wanted what my heart wanted and that was all I could see.  I chose to stay stuck for a while.  Because in that moment, it’s what I needed.  It’s want I had to do to gain the strength to pull myself up and out after I allowed myself to feel the weight of the burden for far too long.  

I know that was yet another lesson God was trying to teach me in doing things on my own.  Especially, the hard stuff.  The hard stuff, He knew, would weigh me down so much that I had no choice but to wave my white flag and surrender all.  

But isn’t that life—don’t we all have those “I’m going to do this on my own” moments?  Don’t we all, in our pride, think that we know what’s best?  


I don’t know about you, but I’m thankful for those white flag, surrender all moments.  Because it is in those moments I completely remember that God wants to carry this burden and I don’t have to stay stuck or do it on my own.  Eventually, I’m sure this lesson will stick.  And my instinct will be to choose to have my heart renewed and grow through the hard seasons of life instead of just staying stuck in my feelings.  

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