I wish I were the friend who could tell you what you want to hear. I wish I were the person who could tell you, and fully believe, that tomorrow, when you wake up, everything will be better. But God has not given me the gift of tickling your ears, of telling you what you want to hear. I understand that my responsibility is to guide you through the tough times, the desert experiences, the wasteland experiences. I am the friend who tells you the hard things, in love, so that you can grow from the experience. If you want your ears tickled, you should probably lose my number.
Today I received a heart-wrenching text message and email. I wanted to call my friend and tell her that the sun will come out, tomorrow, bet your bottom dollar that tomorrow, there’ll be sun. I wanted to tell her that everything’s gonna be alright. The fact of the matter is that God is in control, and I don’t know why He’s teaching her the tough lessons. I don’t know how long the tough lessons will last. What I do know is that He is forging her character, preparing her for something that is so much bigger than her circumstances. I know that God is not surprised at her circumstances. I know that He is in control. Now I sound like a broken record.
There are days that I want to cry out to God, “Why me?” Sometimes I wonder why He allows some people to live to one standard while He holds me to a different standard. Then He reminds me that I am not those people, and that our relationship is not their relationship. He reminds me that I was put on this planet to change the world, not to be comfortable or to settle for momentary gratification. He reminds me that to whom much is given, much is required. He reminds me that I have submitted my life to Him, and that I have given Him permission to do with me as He wants. So that means that I cannot jump from boyfriend to boyfriend. That means that I have to keep Him in the forefront of my mind in EVERYTHING I do, be it stuffing envelopes for a coworker or preaching the gospel to 100,000 people in a stadium. I have to be the same person on the bus or in church.
So there you have it. Deep spiritual insights.
Deneen White 