Almost everyone I talk to right now is stressed, worried, and overwhelmed. Whether that is because of finances, struggles with jobs, or their views on the government, the news, ICE, etc.
Most of us feel angry, anxious, and unsure what to do.
When life is hard, what do you do?
When you scroll through social media and feel that weight on your chest or that pain in your neck and jaw, where do you turn?
What we do in that moment says a lot about us.
What we do reveals what we look to for hope and healing.
Some of us work some more, binge a show, have another glass of wine, take a nap, or do a hard workout. Some of our outlets are helpful and healthy, and others are destructive to us.
In Malachi 3, the prophet lists out some of the things we do when life is hard. As we go through them, look for where your response shows up:
Sorcery: This is leading people astray, leading yourself astray. In our world today, this can lead to believing lies online or conspiracy theories. We find a lot of comfort in these places as the algorithms give us what we want.
This can also be seen when you start turning away from the wisdom of the Bible toward self-help, positive thinking, and things you want to believe are true. Mixing some biblical wisdom with some from your favorite podcast, something from over here, and boom: you have your own religion that seems true to you.
We lie to ourselves when we say, “This is just how the world is, this is why I am the way I am, this is why I can’t change, this is why my marriage isn’t great, this is why I’m lazy, this is why I’m broke.”
Adultery: This is sex outside of marriage of any kind. Fantasies, cheating on your spouse, porn, romance novels. Anything that causes you to fantasize about someone you are not married to is sin.
That’s not holiness.
As our lives spin out of control, we might look for online relationships to fill a void or someone we work with, or someone in our minds.
Lying: Whether lying to ourselves, others, or believing lies we see in the world. Too many of us are not living honest lives.
Gaming the system: This can be seen in things that are legal, but not biblical. It could be not really working hard but getting paid, walking away from a house because it isn’t worth what it used to be, working for cash and not noting it on your taxes, not paying your employees what they are worth.
Things you can do, but defame the name of God.
Oppressing those in need: When life hurts, we start to look out for ourselves. We overlook those who are broken and start looking inward, yet by serving those around us, we can get out of the cloud of our brokenness.
Mistreating people: When life is hard, it is easy to mistreat people. A spouse, kids, and people we work with. We start to look out for ourselves, much like oppressing those in need.
Not fearing God: this is under all of these sins, not trusting God, not believing in Him, not following Him.
Which one is your go-to move when life is out of control?
