One day a man was walking along a desert road and came across what appeared to be a dried-up well. As he peered into the well he thought to himself, "I would like to see what's at the bottom of the well", so in he jumped. Upon reaching the bottom he had a look around and didn't like at all what he saw, and there was a horrible smell of mold and decay. "I don't like this at all," he complained to himself, "in fact, I'm quite miserable". So day and night the man prayed and pleaded with God to come to his aid. Finally, the Lord sent an angel to the man and the angel told him, "The Lord God has heard your plea for help and I have come to deliver you out of this well." Overjoyed the man said, "Oh thanks be to God for hearing my prayer but I don't wish to get out of the well, only, can you please get me some food and a blanket? It's a bit cold down here and I didn't bring anything to eat." The angel was more than a bit surprised to hear the man's request
and asked, "The Lord understands that you have put yourself in this bad place, but in His great mercy he has sent me to rescue you. Will you not be rescued?". Obstinately the man replied, "I suppose this is just how life is and I'll just have to deal with it. I just need these few things I've asked you for in order to help me endure this terrible predicament." "
You may be asking yourself at this point, "How stupid can you get?", right? But I'll tell you, many of us are just like this man in the well. When we look at our own lives we should be very aware of how much of the angst and turmoil that we suffer is of our own doing - a direct result of the decisions we have made. Debt, divorce/bad relationships, dead-end jobs, etc., all of these things are usually our own creation. Now to be sure I'm not talking about the suffering Christ promised we would endure in this world for following Him - that's much different. Rather, I'm saying that if, by my choices, I've created a lifestyle that is wrought with stress, anxiety, hopelessness, and the like, shouldn't I be spending my prayer time asking God for the courage, strength, and His sure aid to get OUT of this mess? But much like the man in the well, we ask instead for things that will help us endure the self-induced misery because after all, this is just life, right? It's not supposed to be easy, is it?
As hard as it may be, it's vitally important for us to take an honest look at our current state in life and ask ourselves how much of our struggles are of our own making. We must take a real assessment of the things in our life that we are unhappy with, that are taking our joy from us, and then realistically determine if these things are the direct result of decisions we've made (or not made; which is also a decision). Taking OWNERSHIP of our actions that have brought us to our current situation is the first and biggest step toward aligning ourselves with God's will for our life. I understand that sometimes it is difficult to know exactly what God's will is for our life, but it's easy to know what it isn't. When we are distracted by the daily grind and cares of this world, we cannot be open and receptive to the "still small voice" of our Lord that leads us to the place wherein God is able to use us in His plan - and it is this disunity that is the true source of our woes.
Let this be our prayer:
I will not rise in the morning and beg of you my Lord for courage and grace to face my day; not when my day is filled with the toils and trials that I brought upon myself of my own free will. Instead, I will ask for Your strength and wisdom to help me change my life to conform to Your will - Your good and perfect will. Amen.
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