Don't just Live with it... Deal with it...

I don't know how to title what I feel compelled to write about. I've searched for the topic in scripture and I haven't found exactly what I feel expressed through any passages yet. I know there is an answer in scripture and as I type, I'm praying that the Lord will lay on my heart what it is exactly that I am feeling.

What I think I'm feeling is hypocritical...

What I think I'm feeling is inconsiderate...

What I think I'm feeling is unable to relate...

It seems like I always have an answer... Like I always have the solution to the problem... Like I know what I'm talking about when I'm sought out by a friend and offer my advice...

My first thought is... "this is over-comeable... all you have to do is blank ..."I seem to have an easy answer for life's problems when they relate to other people.

But the truth is, I feel as though I'm on an island, untouched by reality... Like I live in a bubble that is isolated from all the hurt and pain that the real world feels and lives with everyday. I feel as though I can't possibly be this secure or safe, or unworried, or happy, or fiesty, or content, or excited, or loved, or fulfilled, or whatever I seem to be feeling at the moment, when another person seems to be falling apart. It just seems too good to be true... Life can't be this easy, right?

Don't misunderstand me...I have my fair share of problematic situations... I had to deal with one today... It was an advertiser that had a complaint about a charge for something back in July... He's just now telling me about it and he didn't even start with me, he went to my boss... Well, I just dealt with it... It may not have been the solution he was looking for, I may have to be taken off the account, I may have come across as a little aggressive, but I dealt with it. And I feel better and okay because I dealt with it. I don't have to wonder what I should do, what I could do, or what someone else would do... I did it... Now that problematic situation isn't over, but I don't have to dwell on it and it doesn't consume my thoughts anymore.

This brings me to the point of explaining why I feel a little insensitive to other people and their problems...A lot of times I find most people would rather live with a problem than deal with it. Dealing with things means confronting another person, or admitting guilt about something, or having to apologize to someone... Dealing with a problem means that it might be a little uncomfortable for a moment, but the truth is, NOT dealing with it causes so much more anxiety than when you do deal with it... NOT dealing with something, be it an attitude problem or a relational problem, a behavioral problem or a developmental problem will not make the problem go away... It won't go away if it isn't dealt with... It will grow bigger and bigger and finally overtake your life until that problem is controlling all your thoughts and actions... or rather "inactions" as the case may be.

Regardless of what we do or don't do about something, do you trust God with the outcome? Have you ever said "If this happens, then I'll __________." What if that something happens when you start to deal with your problem? Can you answer the question? What would you do? What do you WANT to do? If you can answer that question, then the problem is not really a problem anymore, you just have to take action and deal with it.

Is something taking over your thought life right now?

Are you NOT dealing with something that needs to be dealt with, hoping it will just go away?

Have you forgiven yourself for something that happened so long ago but you're still living with it?

Have you asked God what you should do?

Don't just live with it, Deal with it... today.