Christa and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Month

In the children’s book by Judith Viorst, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, little Alexander experiences things throughout his day that add up to him having a pretty rough day.  Can you relate?  Maybe you have had a day, a month, or a season like that.  I have felt like Alexander a lot lately.  Nothing tragic has happened, but a series of several things that threaten to steal my joy and take my focus away from the Lord.  

Some of the things that have been going on are on the larger scale- ongoing illness of a child and a house flood.  Others are the small, everyday annoyances that make me say, “good grief! What else?”  One day I texted a friend after a few little things happened and said, “ok, now satan is just picking on me!” I can laugh at some of those now.  One that comes to mind happened a few days after the house flood.  Workers were at the house chipping up the concrete slab in the kitchen to find the underground leak that caused the flood, and I knew dinner would still be coming later that day.  I thought myself to be resourceful when I grabbed a roast out of the refrigerator, put all of the ingredients in the crockpot, and plugged it in outside on the back porch.  Little did I  know that as the workers did their jobs, they tripped the breaker and reset it, so when I checked on the roast 8 hours later, there sat a barely cooked roast on my back porch!  Other small things included the pool nearly overflowing and the backwash hose bursting into a huge fountain of water trying to fix the problem, the restoration company finding more issues in the house that led to even more demo, the dog getting sick literally almost on the shoes of the workers while they were here (and everywhere else on the concrete floor), a dropped and smashed cell phone during a time I really needed to be able to communicate, backing around the POD that houses our furniture in the driveway and dragging a chunk of our grass all the way down the driveway, just to name a few.  

There are theological debates over what is caused by the enemy, what is allowed by God, what is a test, what is a trial.  I don’t even have the energy at this point to speculate on all of that.  All I know is what God is showing me step by step during this “Alexander” month.  I also know that whether it is a spiritual attack, a trial, or a test, it can all be used to point me to Jesus.  It can all be used to teach myself and my family to look for where God is working in the hard things as well as the things that are just flat out annoying.  It can also be used by the enemy to get me to doubt God, turn from him, distract me, and stop us from God’s call on our lives.  

The day after the house flood was going to be the day that we launched this ministry God placed on my heart called Gather Box.  We were going to let people know about it and it was crunch time to get our material written and published.  I remember waking up early with this on my mind and sitting down in the middle of this mess in my house thinking through the content for the box.  My team and I had talked about it and thought we were ready, but it just wasn’t coming together like I wanted.  Then sitting literally in a pile of furniture crammed in one room, God gave me this verse in Psalm 121:1-2, “I lift my eyes to the mountains- where does my help come from?  My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.”  Within minutes, the content was written and I knew God had to give it to me first before I would be able to share it with anyone else.  That verse has been quoted countless times over the past weeks and is constantly at the front of my mind.  In the middle of chaos, He continues to remind me to look up and remember my Help.  2 Chronicles 20:12 says, “We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.”

I have been reading an excellent book by Shauna Pilgreen, Love Where You Live. In this book, she has a chapter on spiritual warfare. She talks about times you think you might be experiencing opposition. She said when you are feeling opposition, pay attention. There were a few questions to ask, but the one that stood out to me was “What is on my calendar? Something the enemy doesn’t like?” Is it a coincidence that all of the chaos started when Gather Box was to launch to reach women with the Gospel? I think not. When I looked around, it made sense to put off the project for a bit and let things settle down, but I knew in doing that, the enemy would be winning. If anything, it fueled me more to get these boxes out and continue with this mission. God knew that and gave me the most incredible team to make it happen. They have served and worked on these boxes and are faithful to pray all along the way. Joseph said to his brothers in Genesis 50:20, “You meant evil against me, but God used it for good.” I see how that is true over and over when I stop and check my perspective. For example, my house is an empty shell, but the perfect “warehouse” setting to house supplies and pack Gather Boxes. God can use the mess for good. Let us check our perspective.

The passage in 1 Peter 5:8-11 jumped off the page at me. It says, “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. 10And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. 11To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

I find great encouragement in this promise that after we suffer for a little while, he will restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish us. Hang in there friend when you suffer in the big things and you are put out by the small things. His promises are true.

This month has been a little crazier than normal, but did it point me toward the Father? Absolutely! It begs me to ask myself, “do I seek God on the uneventful days like I do on the crazy days?” Unfortunately that isn’t always the case. Having these things happen keeps me constantly communicating with God, asking him what this is about and what is He trying to teach me. I can be thankful for the “no good, very bad” things because of that.

Just for your own encouragement, here are some songs that have encouraged me lately. Replace worry with praise!

Never Lost, Elevation Worship

Yes I Will, Vertical Worship

Graves Into Gardens, Elevation Worship

Stronger For It, Lordsong