In our society today many things and people tell us we should be happy and wonderful. Social media portrays picture perfect children and families, happy faces and times. I have never seen a parent post about the fight their children had the night before or the sleepless night they had with a sick child.
However, I have seen many engagement, wedding, and baby announcements, “firsts” in children’s lives, and supposed happy family vacations. I have rarely seen people post about being anxious or depressed or frustrated with God or life.
So when I found an audiobook titled, It’s Okay to Not Be Okay, I was intrigued. I am not far into it, but God used it to lay an idea on my heart. Recovery from sexual assault is not just hard it is almost indescribable. So when others ask how we’re doing it’s easy to just say, “I’m okay.” When we’re not.
Exactly where in the Bible does God call us to be okay and perfect all the time? He doesn’t. No, in fact He knows we aren’t. He knows we are sinners who need His grace so He sent Jesus to save us. God tells us it’s okay to not be okay. He never asks us to be happy all the time.
His words says:
“Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
To rejoice doesn’t mean we have to be okay. God understands if we are depressed or down. David explains this well when he writes of his struggles to be okay and seeking refuge in God when he isn’t.
In Psalms 61:1-3 David cries out to God, just as we do and says:
“Hear my cry, O God; listen to my prayer. From the ends of the earth I call to you, I call as my heart grows faint; lead me to the rock that is higher than I. For you have been my refuge, a strong tower against the foe.”
Against the foe. His enemy. Our enemy is our trauma. The assaults. God doesn’t call us to be okay but to take refuge in Him when we are tired and weary and not okay. He understands our struggles more than any person on this earth. He is the One that can lead us to a place where we will one day be okay.
Yes, one day we will be okay. Whether on earth or in heaven. One day this journey will end and we will be recovered from the trauma. Know that as we continue working to get better and cry out to God seeking refuge in Him like David did, that God understands.
Yes, it is okay to not be okay.
© 2019 Susan M. Clabaugh. All Rights Reserved.
0 comments on “It’s Okay to Not Be Okay”