I Hate This!

“And David was greatly distressed…but he strengthened himself in the LORD his God.” 1 Samuel 30:6

Have you ever had this thought or said the words or screamed them out loud?

“I HATE THIS.”

“The cancer has returned.”

“The company is closing.”

“I am leaving you.”

“Mommy, I am being bullied at school.”

“I HATE THIS!”

There are times when life is just hard. Things that are totally out of our control put us into situations where we are completely helpless. The best planner and goal setter among us gets blown up in the middle of unplanned circumstances.

“My baby has this thing with their heart and we have to do surgery. They are so little. I feel so helpless!”

“My mom and dad are both in the hospital with Covid. I can’t even visit them.”

“I HATE THIS!”

“Jesus said, ‘in this world you will have trouble, but take heart, I have overcome (conquered) this world.’” John 16:33

Do you see it?

We are going to have trouble. It’s the truth.

JESUS CONQUERED!

We are either in a “trouble” currently, coming out of a “trouble,” or about to go into a “trouble.”

Because we love Jesus and He loves us, the enemy and his minions hate us and cause trouble.

Sometimes we bring trouble onto ourselves:

“Can you help me? I am in jail…again.”

“I was driving too fast and I wrecked the car.”

“I was going to put the money back into the account when the deal paid off. Then the deal went south and I lost it all.”

“I HATE THIS!”

What do we do when we get to this point?

Nothing or something…

Doing nothing leads to other issues.

What is the “something” that we can do?

Like King David, start by strengthening ourselves in The Lord.

How?

1. Ask Father for help. Even if we don’t see the answer clearly, we put our trust in Father, the only One Who is trustworthy.
2. Take the thought captive. Rule the thought rather than the thought ruling you. Speak to the thought and say, “You are not in control, Father is in control, and you will bow to Him.”
3. WAIT – When we wait on the Lord our strength is renewed.

Clarity comes as we wait, then we take thoughts captive, then we take action.

Replace the toxic thoughts with truth.

“Summing it all up, friends, you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies.” Philippians 4:8

FATHER HAS NOT FORGOTTEN YOU.

It’s okay to “hate this,” but we don’t have to stay there.

Ask for help.

Take thoughts captive.

Wait.

You have been prayed for today.