{"id":1197,"date":"2015-04-20T16:19:26","date_gmt":"2015-04-20T16:19:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bermiedizon.com\/?p=1197"},"modified":"2015-05-01T03:26:02","modified_gmt":"2015-05-01T03:26:02","slug":"when-things-go-wrong-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bermiedizon.com\/when-things-go-wrong-2\/","title":{"rendered":"When Things Go Wrong"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Gossip\"<\/a><\/p>\n

How do you react when things go wrong? Your e-mail or Facebook accounts get hacked and people send you shocking messages. Your child misbehaves in public or your teenager makes choices that bother you. You\u2019re caught in heavy traffic and late for an important meeting. Perhaps someone gossips about you that is totally baseless. Just how do you respond?<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

In situations like these we may worry about what people think about us. Or maybe we get angry with ourselves or someone else. Or we can just leave all these and surrender them to God. <\/p>\n

Here is what I am thinking right now. What\u2019s done is done. I can\u2019t control how people react to this and so I choose not to worry about it but to trust God.<\/em><\/p>\n

This is one spiritual discipline I have found so helpful. It is the discipline of submitting to the sovereign Lord.<\/p>\n

In his book, Renovation of the Heart<\/em>, Dallas Willard shares this valuable point — abandoning outcomes to God is a primary lesson for our formation in Christ and our own personal \u201csoul\u201d care. Indeed, I have found this extremely helpful and to many friends I have worked with. What exactly does it mean? <\/p>\n

Willard says, \u201cThe secret to peace, as great apprentices of Jesus have long known, is being abandoned to God.\u201d (p. 135) He elaborates:<\/p>\n

If grace and wisdom prevail in the life of the one who only surrenders to God\u2019s will, he or she will move on to abandonment. Then the individual is fully surrendered. There is no longer any part of himself or herself that holds back from God\u2019s will\u2026<\/p>\n

We therefore no longer fret over \u201cthe bad things that happen to good people,\u201d though we may undergo much hardship and suffering. While God does not cause these things to happen, we now accept them as within his plan for good to those who love him and are living in his purposes (Romans 8:28). Irredeemable harm does not befall those who willingly live in the hand of God. (p. 150-151)<\/p>\n

Through the years, I learned that when we finally discover and learn to surrender outcomes to God, we not only experience contentment but also the opportunity to participate in what God is doing in our world. It is empowering to know that we are no longer mere observers or spectators, but that our life story is actually a part of God\u2019s very own epic story. Yes, God invites us to play an essential part in this eternal drama. No matter how tragic or crazy circumstances may be, we embrace them while trusting God for the best because He is the power beyond ourselves. He is the one who cares beyond what we can imagine.<\/p>\n

In other words, when we stop trusting on our capabilities to make things happen and instead present to God all our worries, we are actually empowered by God. You know what happens? We discover God\u2019s grace anew. We learn that He is acting with us generously and powerfully and we can participate with his action by our trust and surrender. <\/p>\n

I find this quote very enlightening. \u201cThe strongest human will,\u201d Willard explains, \u201cis always the one that is surrendered to God\u2019s will and acts with it.\u201d (p. 152)<\/strong><\/p>\n

The scriptures tell us clearly trusting God is the \u201ceasy yoke\u201d of Jesus.<\/p>\n

\"trusting_god\"<\/a>\u201cCome to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light\u201d <\/em>(Matthew 11:28-30).<\/p>\n

We \u201caccept that we do not have in ourselves \u2014 in our own \u2018heart, soul, mind, and strength\u2019 \u2014 the wherewithal to make this come out right, whatever \u2018this\u2019 is\u201d (Willard, p. 209). Instead, let us \u201centrust our souls to a faithful Creator in doing what is right\u201d <\/em>(1 Peter 4:19). <\/p>\n

Let us take on Jesus\u2019 meekness and lowliness of heart \u2014 the humility that is foundational for all virtues \u2014 and what great freedom this is from all our worries.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

How do you react when things go wrong? Your e-mail or Facebook accounts get hacked and people send you shocking messages. Your child misbehaves in public or your teenager makes choices that bother you. You\u2019re caught in heavy traffic and late for an important meeting. Perhaps someone gossips about you that is totally baseless. Just […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1204,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bermiedizon.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1197"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bermiedizon.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bermiedizon.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bermiedizon.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bermiedizon.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1197"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bermiedizon.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1197\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bermiedizon.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1204"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bermiedizon.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1197"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bermiedizon.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1197"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bermiedizon.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1197"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}