For the ones who "Have it all Together"

We've all had those days where it's bad from the beginning and it just gets worse from there. Or those weeks that turn into months where it just seems like an unending stream of disappointments. Or that one day you look forward to all year and you're disappointed every time because it never goes how you imagined. We've all been heartbroken, betrayed and almost alone.

Today was one of those days where I almost burst into tears a couple times and everything went wrong from the time I sat down at my desk till I walked through my front door. I was discouraged and disappointed and I felt like the weight of the world was on my shoulders. Satan took this opportunity to kick me while I was down, in a sense, and remind me of past hurts and rejections and whisper lies like, "No one really cares about you. Your job isn't important. You can't actually make any difference in this world. People just think you're stupid, and they're right..." These are lies that Satan was telling me all day and he was loving the fact that I was actually believing them. Let me tell you another lie that I'm sure he's whispered in your ear a couple times too, "Your problems don't matter, there are other people who have way bigger problems so don't even bother getting help with your's..." That is not true at all and let me tell you why.

God cares about your problems, God cares that you have a heavy heart or that you had a rough day at work of school. He knows and he cares. Let me tell y'all a little secret, sometimes the ones who seem to have it all together, the ones who are constantly reaching out to and encouraging other, are the ones who need the most encouragement. They're the ones who are trying to fight the internal battles of a broken heart or depression or anxiety or loneliness or discouragement alone. Sometimes the battles you can't see, or you don't know about, are the ones that do the most damage.

Look at your pastor or youth leader or mentor, who mentors them? Who pours love and truth into their lives? Has you ever thought that maybe your pastor might actually have their own hardships that they are facing almost alone because 'They are the ones who are supposed to have it all together'? I heard someone say once "They don't need a mentor because they have it all together, they already have a strong relationship with God. They don't need me." If you ever see those people who seem like they have it all together ask them to go to coffee with you, ask them how you can pray for them, if you show them you care soon you will see how broken they really are. Be prepared for them to break down in tears and be prepared to pour love and encouragement into their broken hearts that have been needing that for years. Take that girl or guy that always has a smile and sit them down and show them how much you care.

To the one who "has it all together", God's always there even when no one else is. He knows what you're going through and he cares. He wants to hear about it, ask him to send someone to encourage you. I know how hard it is when all you really want is for one person to show an interest in your life and it seems like no one does... Keep your head up, have faith, and don't stop praying. Someone will come and they will come when God knows that you need them the most.

I hope y'all know and understand how very much God loves you. I hope you realize what you're worth. You're worth dying for, each and every one of you. You're precious and you're a child of God.

I hope y'all have a great weekend!!

Katelyn

Power in Weakness

 My dad told me the other day that often your greatest strength is also your greatest weakness. I'd like to switch that around and say pretty much the same thing except back-words. Your greatest weakness can also be your greatest strength. I changed that because, if you are anything like me, it's easier for most of us to pick out our weaknesses before out strengths.

If you were to ask me what my greatest weakness was I would tell you it's my stubbornness/strong will. Anyone who knows me well probably knows that I'm a stubborn person at times and I have always considered that a bad trait to have, until just recently when I discovered how powerful my 'weakness' actually was when I used it the right way. I struggle sticking with things in life, I get all these "great ideas" and start a lot of things then halfway through that I start another "great idea" and drop the first one. That is something that a lot of people have started to notice happening in my life and I decided that I didn't want to be known as someone who doesn't finish what they start. And that's where my stubborn streak kicked in.

A couple days ago I was sitting at my desk at work and this thought suddenly hit me as I was considering quitting, and I said to myself, "I'm probably the most strong willed person I know and I have always thought of that as a bad thing, but who say's it can't be a good thing. God obviously made that as part of my personality for a reason, and there's a pretty good chance that it's so I learn to stick with what I believe in and not give up when things get hard. I need to stick with this job that God gave me and I need to give it my very best. No one is going to be able to call me a quitter!" So right then and there my whole attitude changed, just sitting at my desk. My greatest weakness, in my mind, had just become my greatest strength.

Now think of something you struggle with, maybe it's stubbornness like me or maybe it's something else. How can you flip that around and use it, with God's help, to change the world? How can you allow God to move in you to empower others to change the world?

Now let's talk about how it can work the other way around... How can your strength become your greatest weakness. I think we all know how stubbornness can be a weakness but what about other strengths? Maybe we get consumed with how awesome we think we are and lose sight of the one who actually got us to where are are now... God. Maybe you start to let the mindset of, 'I'm so much better than all these other people because God gave me this talent and look what they got stuck with.' Maybe we are focusing too much time in the area we strive in and we let the other people in our lives fall. Maybe we are really good at spreading the gospel and loving the strangers around us but at home and church we are letting our relationships fall apart. Maybe we are too focused out bringing new people into the church that we are forgetting to continue to love and care for the one's God already gave us. The list could go on and on and as I'm writing this I am seeing myself in a lot of these examples... The thing is, we all fail at some point and we have to realize that and look to God to help us stay strong. No one is perfect and sometimes our weakness is our strength and sometimes it's just a weakness. But, there is Grace and Forgiveness for when we do mess up and God is always going to be right there to help us back to our feet and keep going.

I hope y'all realize how much power you have to change the world for the better or for the worse, and I hope you choose to change it for the better! God bless you all and I hope you have an amazing rest of your week!

Katelyn