Joey Tribbiani’s classic line, “How you doin’?” from the TV sitcom Friends has a particular meaning. It actually makes me smile. But this question has whole lot more meaning attached to it when someone else asks us this question. Come see what I mean.
In the midst of so many heartbreaks and burdens comes this question, “How YOU doin’?”
“Who? Me?” you ask.
“Yes. You.” God responds.
Do you answer truthfully or do you skim over your answer like a boat skims the water? Are you willing to set your anchor into the deep water and stop moving for a while so that you and God can have a truthful conversation about what’s going on in your heart, in your circumstances, in your life?
True Story Ahead
One of the most difficult times in my life was during my first marital separation. Heartbroken, worried, and fearful I’d get up each morning, sit dazed on the edge of my bed, head hung low, and feel as though the weight of the world lay on my shoulders.
Always there was a heaviness in my soul.
During those longs days, I was not the Michelle most knew me to be.
The quick smile was not so quick in this darkness. I struggled to see a reason to smile. My perspective blinded me to the Light that so desperately desired to shine in my heart and touch my heartbroken and burdened soul.
One day I stumbled upon Psalm 37.
It starts like this, “Do not fret…”
Eyes widen and fidgeting a little in my chair, because come on, that’s hard to do, I thought, “I’m not supposed to worry right now? Does God even know what I’m going through right now? If He did, He’d never tell me to not fret because there’s plenty to worry about!”
What I didn’t know was that God was about to present me with even more words of instructions for my difficult season:
- Trust in the Lord
- Delight yourself in the Lord
- Commit your way to the Lord
- Be still before the Lord
- Wait for the Lord
I seriously thought, “That’s a whole lot to expect from me during this difficult time in my life! You have great expectations, Lord!”
But as I continued reading this Psalm, hope began touching my burdened soul when the Light finally broke through just enough to illuminate this message:
“If the Lord delights in a man’s way, he makes his steps firm; though he stumble, he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him with his hand” (Psalm 37:23-24, NIV).
I didn’t just stumble across Psalm 37 that day. It was divine intervention.
My powerful God knew His daughter needed to know He was her help and her guide. God knew I needed His instructions how to walk through this difficult season.
He helped lift my eyes to His perspective and His ways so that He could lead me through to the other side.
Trust in the Lord
There’s no way to truly trust someone you don’t know, which is why we have to stop skimming the waters with Jesus, set our anchors, and get to know Him.
The more time we spend with Jesus, the more we get to know Him. The more we know Him, the more we learn to trust Him. The more we trust Him, the easier it is to see His perspective. He can see way beyond our pain, our difficulties, and our circumstances. He knows the way through to the other side.
I’ve learned this truth through many difficulties including my first marital separation.
God knew I needed to trust in Him, delight in Him, commit my marriage to Him, and be still with Him.
So every day, I’d set my anchor down into the deep trenches of my stormy sea and be still before my Lord.
My Bible is marked with annotations of moments of being still with Jesus. Psalm 37 in particular is a treasured chapter of the Bible for me as God Himself helped me understand what He wanted me to do during my stormy sea and what He in turn would do.
Hope for Today
When I get too bogged down with life’s circumstances, I’m reminded to lift myself up out of my own perspective so that I can see God’s perspective.
When God Himself asks me, “How YOU doin’?” I set my anchor for a while and tell Him. He in turn tells me, “Do not fret. Trust me. Delight in me. Commit to me. Be still. Wait for me.”
Question of the Day
How YOU doin’?
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