Confessions of Cassie: I struggle, too

Okay, okay. It’s time for a confession, y’all. Yep, I struggle, too.

Last week, I shared a post with you about how to combat the lies Satan throws at you and how to win the battle.  (Also, there’s a giveaway, on that post, too.  You could win a set of phone cases from Prone to Wander, sponsored by FrontGate Media! Giveaway ends on 4/25/2018.)

I even straight up said in that post “when Satan wants to come around and join your pity party, shut it down.”  That line, friend, will preach.

And what happened on Monday of this week?  Yep, I was having myself a good, old fashioned pity party.

A Pity Party of One and You’re Not Invited

I don’t know if this happens to other people.  I’m sure it does.  But, I’m pretty positive the insurance company knows when I need to call them and an alert goes off or something.  And since they get forewarned, they come up with a new way to cause a headache.

I know: it’s called life and adulting. But, still.  It’s also aggravating and a wee bit frustrating.

And hence, what I was having a pity party about.  I even texted my Momma that it felt like everything was hitting me from all sides that day. (Side note: My mom is a saint, y’all.  Super thankful for her.  You don’t even know.)  There were some other slightly aggravating things that happened that Monday morning, too, but we won’t go into those. 

I’m sure you’ve been there.  Things that aren’t a big deal, somehow become a big deal.  Like, when you’re running late for work and then the Hateful Cat runs in the door expecting to be fed, but you don’t have time to feed him.  And then he runs around the kitchen in the opposite direction, only to make you that much more aggravated.

Is it a big deal that the cat ran in?

No.  But, does it make you mad and get your goat?  Yep.  Because everything else happened to go wrong, too, and the cat being hangry was just the tip of the iceberg that sent you into a tailspin.

The deal with the insurance company was kind of like that.  It wasn’t a big deal, at all.  But, since I was already frustrated, it just took the cake.  And not the good birthday party cake, either.  The kind of cake that’s served only at a pity party.

Around the same time, a friend asked how my day was going.  So, I told him about the day’s struggles.

A Swift Reminder Straight to the Heart

Wouldn’t you know, within the span of three minutes, both my Momma and my friend quickly reminded me of a few things.  First, my Momma sent a text that basically said “you write posts about how to handle this stuff all the time.  Remember Who can take care of this.”

And thennn my friend literally sent me a screenshot of a tweet I tweeted from last week’s post.  Yep, you guessed it.  That line that I said would preach.   “When Satan comes around and wants join your pity party, shut it down.”

That screenshot and the reminder from my mother were all that I needed to let go of my grip on the situation and hand it over to Jesus.

Ouch.  Did that feel good?  No, sirree.  Those messages felt like an arrow straight to the heart, y’all.  Ripped a hole right through it.

But, was it exactly what I needed?  You betcha.

It wasn’t long after I prayed something like “Okay, Lord.  I need you to handle this and I know that you can and will.  I’m giving it all to You” that things worked out and the day started getting better.  Thank you, Jesus!

A little music to start the day

So, why am I telling you this? 

Well, friend, a couple reasons.

Yesterday morning as I was driving to work, I had the Christian station blaring.  No surprise there, right?  And what happened to come bopping through the speakers?  None other than Mandisa singing her song Unfinished.

If you haven’t heard it, the first part of it goes like this:

Not scared to say it
I used to be the one
Preaching it to you
That you could overcome
I still believe it
But it ain’t easy

Anddd that kind of stopped me in my tracks.  No, not literally, since I was on the verge of being late to work and I drive like a bonafide granny (and no, Hateful Cat was not involved this time).  But, it definitely got me thinking and I knew I had to share my thoughts with you.Our struggles allow God's mercy to plainly shine through.  And when God's mercy shines, others cannot help but notice it. Click To Tweet

Now, y’all, Mandisa also has this song out called Overcomer.  In that song, she’s telling you that you can get through whatever it is Satan is throwing at you.  Because you’re a overcomer and through Christ, you can do anything.  (Seriously.  The Bible says so.  See Phillipians 4:13 if you don’t believe me.)

But, in Unfinished, Mandisa is straight up honest with her listeners: she doesn’t have it all figured out, either.  Sometimes, life is hard.  And she, even though she knows she can overcome anything with Christ on her side, has to sometimes pick herself back up and keep on going.

She gets knocked down, too.  But, she grabs hold of Christ’s hand and keeps going.

It happens to all of us, I think.  We just need to remember to cling to His hand.

Confession: I Struggle, too

Friend, I never, ever want to seem like I have it all figured out.  Because I don’t.

I don’t want to seem like I never struggle with the Devil bringing me down.  Because, that happens.  And sometimes, when I get knocked down, I momentarily forget Who can fix it all.  I mean, it wasn’t even four days after posting about not having a pity party that I was sitting in my office doing just that, y’all.  Having a certified pity party.  Yikes.

Just because I blog about the goodness of the Lord and blog about sharing the Good News of the Gospel, I don’t want to ever come across to you as someone that is “perfect”.

I’m not perfect.  I struggle.  A lot.  I mess things up.  And I have so many failings and shortcomings it’s not even funny.

You know what, though?  The Bible is full of people who went through the same thing.  But, you know what else?  In their struggles and weaknesses, Christ’s strength was made perfect and God was still able to work.

If you listen to all of Mandisa’s Unfinished, you’ll hear her sing, “His work in me ain’t through… I’ll celebrate the truth… I’m just unfinished…  He’s still working on me.”

Friend, He’s still working on me, too.  And, that’s a good thing.  Because in the middle of life’s struggles, in the middle of our failings and shortcomings, we can clearly see the power and strength of Christ.

Our struggles allow God’s mercy to plainly shine through.  And when God’s mercy shines, others cannot help but notice it.

If you’re riding the struggle bus with me, pick yourself back up, friend, and listen to this reminder:  Give it all to Christ and let Him keep working on you, too.  Give Him space to work and watch what happens.