The Adventure Gal

2018 was supposed to be the perfect, happiest year of my life. For the most part, it was pretty great. I got married to the man of my dreams, traveled the world, and I graduated from college. I was also offered a great position that has launched my career. If this year was so great according to these things, then why did I have such horrible anxiety, frustration, and battles? Because I learned this year that life isn’t supposed to be perfect. 

I know this is an obvious thing to most, but I have truly learned what this means. Besides all of the good things in my life that have happened, there have also been struggles. I got in a car accident and have been sharing my husband’s minivan for the last two months, had a Lyme’s disease scare this summer, been in and out of the doctor’s office with Lyme’s and different small medical things, struggles in relationships, and have been battling with the worst anxiety I have ever faced.

I’m not listing all of these things for a pity party, but rather I want to point out that going through these things have been an effort to distract me from God’s goodness and promises. Earlier this year, my husband felt that this time in our lives is a promise of being in the land of milk and honey. This is a time of blessings and goodness, and we have seen that immensely.

In this season, God has shown up again and again, even though there are hard days. Recently, I was reading Matthew and it said that there will always be temptations and along with that comes trials. We weren’t meant to have heaven here on earth.

How we handle this can be different for everyone. For me, anxiety arises when life isn’t exactly how I believe it should pan out. I have these thoughts of, “If I lose 40 pounds, or if I buy that nice purse I want, or if I just keep trying hard to be who I want to be, I will get there.” This is such a lie because I will always let myself down. I will never be happy with my successes, even if I reach these goals, because life isn’t supposed to be perfect. We aren’t supposed to be fulfilled by earthly desires.

This lesson from 2018 has helped me realize that when a battle comes, it’s not going to last forever. Did you also realize that I said when it comes? It will be coming. So, what am I doing now to prepare for the soon to come battle? I’m getting ready with my fists up and won’t let anything knock me down. Learning about God’s greatness and provision in my life is one of the best ways to do this. In the past, the smallest things would tear me apart but now I’m ready to fight the spiritual wars that WILL be coming.

¹⁰ Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. ¹¹ Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. ¹² For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. ¹³ Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. ¹⁴ Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, ¹⁵ and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. ¹⁶ In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. ¹⁷ Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit,which is the word of God.

Ephesians 6:10-17