It Happens

Everybody has bad days right? How about bad weeks? I think at some point it happens to all of us. Some may even feel like it’s more like months or years. I recently had what I considered to definitely be a bad week. As I rode the past 2 days I found myself reflecting on it all and I have to tell you I didn’t handle it as well as I should have or could have. I allowed myself to get caught up in the wrong mindset and focused on the bad,  rather than on Him. I had unhealthy thoughts more than once and even said some words which I had to later ask forgiveness for. I felt stressed, overwhelmed, mentally exhausted and just plain angry.
As I rode along on the first of these 2 rides,  I’d left in such a hurry to try to escape myself and regain some sense of peace, that I failed to properly put my hair up. Any of you that ride and have longer hair probably can relate to what I felt while I was cruising along. The hair that was flying loosely was slapping me in the face. That stinging feeling can not be explained to someone who hasn’t felt it but I assure you it’s not a pleasant experience. At one point I considered pulling over to fix it but then I decided to just keep rolling down the highway.
I realized after a while that it was appropriate I was being “slapped”. It was a wake up call to get it together. I needed to go to my Father not only to ask for forgiveness,  but to allow Him to do His work in me. I had been trying to handle all of the “wrongs ” that were happening on my own and it wasn’t until I gave it all to Him that it got better. Don’t get me wrong,  those things that happened still had to be dealt with and paid for, but He provided.
Sometimes He is simply waiting for us to ask for His help and to purposely choose Him.
He is always there as not only our Heavenly Father and Savior,  but also our friend. He is someone we can always turn to and who never truly leaves our side,  even though we don’t deserve His unconditional love and we sometimes leave His side.
Have you ever had a true friend,  one that you can go for weeks, months, maybe even years and have minimal contact with but then when you do get together it’s as if you were never apart? I’ve recently had a reconnection with someone like that.  When our kids were little we were very close and were always there for each other. Then our kids grew older and we headed in different directions. We stayed in touch of course periodically and still were there for each other, but it was not the same as it had been. I’ve never been one to trust many people or like being around a bunch of people. If I make what I consider to be a true friend,  it’s forever, even if it’s sometimes not as prominent as at other times. I’m glad we have reconnected as we are starting a new venture together and it feels just like I previously mentioned, as if we’ve picked up right where we left off.
Isn’t it sometimes the same with our relationship with Jesus? There may be times in our lives when we feel very close to Him, and other times when we may not. Is that because He has moved or changed? Absolutely not, it’s because we have . No matter how far we may stray, what we may say or do wrong,  or how long it takes us to return to Him, He is still there waiting for us to welcome Him back .
I saw a post today that was a little mouse taking a bubble bath and it said stress comes from trying to handle it all on our own, peace comes from putting it all in God’s hands. That is so true!
As I finish writing this I need to share some words from a song that was just playing by Matt Maher called, Run to the Father.
I fall into grace
I’m done with the hiding
No reason to wait
And my heart found a surgeon
My soul found a friend
So I’ll run to the Father
Again and again
And again and again

Aren’t you glad we can always run to the Father? I sure am.