it's okay to not be okay

this past week has been crazy. on tuesday, we found out that one of my friends' mom was diagnosed with cancer, and she is already at stage 4. when my best friend called me to tell me the news, all i could do was ask God why. Why cancer? Why this family? Why this woman? The answer: i don't know. Sometimes we don't know why certain things happen in our lives. we don't know why a family member is taken from us, or why we lost a job. but what i do know is that what can be broken, can be healed, and what we see, is not what God sees. I read this blog post today from Bianca Juarez and thought it was appropriate for what's been going on this week.



 

When life is tough and you feel like you can’t go on, it’s okay to not be okay.
When money is tight and you are stressed about the bills, it’s okay to not be okay.
When your heart is broken and you’re devastated and alone, it’s okay to not be okay.
When life doesn’t make sense and you feel lost in a maze, it’s okay to not be okay.
When dreams are shattered by reality, it’s okay to not be okay.
When death takes someone you love, it’s okay to not be okay.

Sometimes as Christians we lose perspective of the One who fights for us. Like, since we’re Christians we shouldn’t lose our marbles, yell alone in our car, or cry because life is too much. We should be perfect and pretty and polished. We should quote scripture and hold onto to promises and never, ever be angry.

However, when I look at scripture I see ordinary people, serving an extraordinary God, still have meltdowns. David was a emotional basket-case; yet he was king. Job cursed his birth; yet lived a long life. Naomi admitted she was bitter and forgotten; yet her promise was met.

These characters had space to not be okay. And it was okay.

Job, Naomi, and David all professed God as the provider of their needs. They trusted him. They loved him. But in their lives we see moments of stress, depression, turmoil. Confusion, aloneness, despair. Fear, doubt, poverty.

In moments of confusion, desperation, or bitterness, don’t hide alone in a closet. Or worse, don’t isolate someone because they’re not okay. We all need space to process our emotions without the feeling of needing to be fake or fine or in control. God’s in control. We run around like fools acting like the world is ending until He stops us, reminds us, and assures us… everything is going to be okay.