When life gives you lemons…you could shove them somewhere.

I think single-handedly the absolute worst advice anyone can give you is “it’ll all work out.” That is not advice, that is what people say to you when they don’t know what to say. That probably sounds cynical, I understand, but it’s true.

When something doesn’t go your way, you don’t want to make lemonade and be happy, you want to chuck those lemons straight at life while yelling obscenities asking why things can’t be easier…or am I the only one that feels like that?

How come, in life, things can’t just be easy?

I feel like that is probably a question I ask the Lord far more than I should, because I already know the answer, but sometimes I just wish something could be easy. Unfortunately, very rarely are the right choices the easy ones.

We are all dreamers in a sense. We all have something we want or desire out of life. Some of us spend our entire lives striving for those dreams, some achieve them in a few years and move on to something else. But what do we do when we feel stuck? What do we do when we have been where we are at for so long we don’t even care if we take a step backward because at least we will be moving?

Honestly, I have no clue.

About a month ago, I would have had a really deep Godly answer about how He is the maker of all things and will never lead us astray, which I still stand by whole heartedly, but it is a lot harder to stand on that rock of assurance when you see your dream slip through your hands.

I truly believe the Lord has a plan for all of us. He says it over and over again in the bible. Jeremiah 29:11 is probably the most well-known verse, “I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (NIV) That is just one example of many for how the Lord really does care. Although, as humans, fragile as we are, we question, we whimper, we beg, we whine, we basically do everything except give it to the Lord.

Why are we so quick to question Him when something doesn’t go our way? For me, that answer is because it hurts. Because when I sit and watch my dreams slip through my fingers time and time again, I wonder why things can’t just be easy. My heart hurts and I feel alone.

I don’t understand hurt, I never will, but I do know when I finally crawl out of that hole of focusing on myself and not getting what I want I can see that the Lord has never let me down. Yes, I have to wait and be patient…*eye roll*…but He is here. He is beside me and beside you. And believe it or not, the point of life isn’t to get what we want when we want it! Wow, who would have thought!

I think, in my limited experience, that if I am being completely honest, some of the best moments of my life have been when I took a step back and been thankful for where I am at. Made the best of the current situation and enjoyed the moment I am in, not focusing on what I don’t have or what I want more of, but simply being. Laughing with friends over dinner, enjoying a concert, going for a walk in the morning, taking in how much we already have and being grateful for all the Lord has blessed us with and the blessings that are about to come.

Easier said than done. Trust me, I understand. If we look back over our lives, our difficult messy lives, we can point out moments where the Lord was there - watching over us, loving us - even when we felt alone.

He knows our dreams and desires. And for as bad as I want something right now, I have never been upset about the Lord’s timing because I always get 10 times more when He gives it than when I take it.

I know the Proverbs 31 women is something that gets thrown in our faces often as to help us focus on the Lord, but if I am being honest, it should be thrown in our faces more because that is the type of woman I want to be. I want to wake up each morning knowing things may not go exactly the way I want them to, but I can stand on my rock because he has a better plan, a plan I can’t even imagine the blessings of. I want to laugh (and sometimes cry), knowing that no matter what, He is here with me and slowly, but surely, he will make His dreams in my life come true.

When Life Gives You Lemons