How to Handle Trouble and Happiness: A Doable Strategy

Living in Minnesota allows me to experience all four seasons, not equally because let’s face it, Mr. Winter thinks he’s boss and tries to play the authority figure over the rest of the seasons. Whatever Winter, you don’t scare me. You sound and look tough, but you’re going to melt away soon enough. I know. I know. Not yet. In fact, you decided to send out 2019 with a bit of a frozen blast. Come on, where’s your Minnesota Nice, Mr. Winter?

The last three days have included rain, snow, ice, wind, clouds, a meager showing of the sun, but relatively doable temps in the low 30’s. Not swimsuit weather, but I did wear my canvas TOMS with no socks outside this weekend. That’s pretty shocking for me when winter rules the forecast. I don’t like cold feet, but I get them from time to time.

It can be difficult to know how to dress and prepare for each day with the intense variety in this state. As I write this I think, Wow! this sounds awfully similar to my life in the last year. Lots of variety, lots of change, cold feet (metaphorically), hard to know how to prepare for each day sometimes. Yet, day by day, it was doable. I know because I lived it. And like Mr. Winter is sending out 2019 in his classic frozen style, I too, am sending out 2019 with a bang and starting 2020 with a bang! I may just be crazy, but whatever, I’m all in. I can’t tell you what I’m all in on, but I’m all in and it’s exciting!

True Story Ahead

This year has been challenging for me in many ways. I’ve struggled. As you know, I’ve struggled to write. In fact, I’ve hardly connected with you. I’m so sorry. That wasn’t my plan. It was my Coach’s decision.

I’ve been learning a lot during this quiet season. I’ve been learning about myself…again. I’ve been learning a lot about others too. Recently, a very wise person informed me that I’m sitting on the bench. Then she informed me when players sit on the bench, they are to be keenly observing. I pondered her wisdom and insight for a few days. She’s right. God has had me sitting on the bench. Thankfully, I’ve been doing exactly what a great coach would want me to do while sitting on the bench: pay attention and observe.

I’ve been observing life and people and circumstances and marveling at the vast variety of what people are going through. Even over the last three days I’ve learned of deaths, births, celebrations, and such sadness it breaks my heart. It’s amazing to me that each one of us can be living at the same time here on earth, but experiencing something completely different each and every day.

Some of us are having one of those stellar years of much happiness and health and all the bells are ringing for us. Others of us have had one of those years we want to not experience ever again. It was just too hard. Too much pain. Too much death. Too much sadness. I personally have had a mixture of the two. Maybe you fall into this category too.

This fall I came across a Bible verse that greatly encouraged me. It tells us exactly how to handle all of the above.

Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise (James 5:13).

God’s great strategy for both trouble and happiness: Prayer and praise!

The day God made this verse truly known to me, I realized I’ve been implementing this strategy for years. And I realized the two figurines (pictured above) that sit on my writing desk, which were gifts to me from two separate friends, demonstrate this applied strategy in my life. One represents prayer. The other represents praise. That, my friends, is NOT a coincidence. I love when God connects His Word to a tangible item in my personal life.

So, as we end 2019 let us both pray to Jesus and praise Jesus. And let us commit to this strategy in 2020. While I can’t predict how many times I’ll write a blog post in 2020, I can predict this with certainty: We will have both trouble and happiness in 2020. The cool thing is now, we have a strategy how to handle both. We have God’s strategy. If He thinks it’s a good strategy worthy of putting in His book, we can trust this strategy will work.

Our 2020 New Year’s goal is quite simple and quite doable: If we find ourselves in trouble, let us pray to Jesus. If we are happy, let us praise Him. And if you want to belt out a song of praise, I’m sure Jesus will be honored. I belted one out bright and early this morning. I even added a little dance. Feel free to let it go, friends: prayer and praise. Jesus loves it when we do. And we end up being greatly blessed.

May your year end with peace and joy. May your new year be filled with faith, hope, and love through all the seasons of 2020.

Michelle 🙂