Life is kind of like one big, crazy rollercoaster. It starts off peacefully, fills you with excitement and loads of anticipation, and sends you flying downward at what seems like 100 miles an hour, only to send you back racing up hill. You laugh until it hurts, cry a little bit (if not on the outside, at least on the inside...don't lie, you know you have), have a couple of "oh no" moments, and if you're like me, at some point you're screaming at the top of your lungs, begging for someone to stop the ride and let you off.
Just like a rollercoaster, once you're on that big, crazy ride that life is, you can't get off. Sometimes we get lost in that moment of excitement. Sometimes we bask in those moments of laughing until it hurts. Those are the parts of the ride that everyone talks about.
But then there's the not-so-pretty parts. Sometimes, we get stuck in that screaming-at-the-top-of-your-lungs, "LET ME OFF" moments, and guess what? That's okay.
In my short 21 years of life, I've been thrown some pretty wicked curve balls. From death, to illness, to people who crossed my path who I was sure were going to leave it in absolute shambles, I've seen a lot of things and gone through a lot of stuff that I wish I hadn't had to- things that I couldn't, and honestly still can't, find a reason for. Chances are, you've been through that too, and let me just say that I am so sorry for that.
For a long time, I was in that spot where maybe you are now, or maybe where you've been, or one will be. I wanted nothing more in the world for someone to stop the ride and let me off, because everything seemed so scary, uncertain, and unfair. I couldn't find a reason for why things kept happening the way that they did. I could't come up with any logical explanation. I prayed time and time again for understanding, healing, and peace, and that never seemed to come. All of this stuff and all of these things just kept happening, and no matter how hard I prayed or how much I tried, it wouldn't stop, and it made me so angry.
Somewhere, in the midst of my anger, sadness, and fear, I found myself clinging to four little words- thy will be done. These were words I had heard a long time ago, and that I've heard in sermons, Bible studies, and songs. It wasn't until this moment in my life not too long ago that these words hit me so hard that they imprinted on my heart and my mind.
When I don't understand, when I can't find a reason why, when my heart is aching, and trust me- those are feelings I deal with all too much, I started saying to myself, "thy will be done" and for even just a moment, the rollercoaster that I'm on comes to a pause, and I can catch my breath.
If your rollercoaster is sending you spiraling down at 100 miles an hour and you're pleading for someone to make it stop, open up your Bible, pull up an app, or look on Google and read those words that Matthew 6:10 tells us- "thy will be done."
It may not seem like it right now, and it may not seem like it tomorrow, but one of these days that rollercoaster you're riding is going to send you back up hill, and it's going to be great. I'm talking wind blowing through your hair, throw your head back laughing, most satisfying breath you've ever taken kind of great.
Hold out for that moment, and always remember that you're not on this ride alone.
