For they are ever with me

Reading back through my last several posts, which are few and far between over the last few years, I’ve noticed a common theme about myself that I’m not proud of.

There’s a lot of me whining about how hard life is.

I haven’t updated this blog in a while because (insert excuse here).

– Me

It’s not just this blog; I have a thousand big ideas of things I want or need to do, but in my head I’ve been hung up on how difficult life is and I’ll do the thing (whatever it is) when life slows down.

I don’t have to reiterate all that I’ve been through over the past decade or so, but you know what?

I’m tired of my life being stuck in this holding pattern while I wait for life to get manageable because I’ve finally come to the realization that

Life is never going to be more manageable.

There will be illness and stress and upheaval and major life events and losses and grief.

Does everyone else just know this, because it feels like a huge and recent revelation to me?

Maybe life hasn’t been easy for any of us, ever, since Adam and Eve got kicked out of the garden. Maybe I was just sheltered from the worst of it for a long time.

I was reading God’s Word this morning and this verse in Psalm 119 jumped out at me…

Your commands make me wiser than my enemies, for they are ever with me.

Psalm 119:98

…For they are ever with me.

Woah, did you catch that?

Even for David, who God loved more than just about anyone, enemies were always with him.

I mean, I guess it’s probably true for all of us, that as long as we’re on this earth, enemies will always be with us, whether it’s in the form of people who would kill you if they had the chance and could get away with it (like David), or in the form of illness and stress and upheaval and major life events and losses and grief.

We can let the enemies derail us from our life’s purpose, which is what the Ultimate Enemy Himself would prefer, and which, if I’m honest, I’ve allowed myself to do for the last decade-ish.

Or we can learn how to be wiser than our enemies, like David.

As it doesn’t appear that life will be slowing down anytime soon, I think that’s the best option… to suck it up and do the thing, whatever it is, in spite of it.