tell me something GOOD
Recently I attended a prayer night at my church. My husband was doing the music, and I knew that just being in the room listening to his beautiful keyboard playing would soothe my soul. Besides, life has lots of hard spots and who couldn’t use a little more prayer?
That evening there was space for me to find a spot by myself and just soak in the moment. While most people went up to be prayed over by the church staff, I felt content to have my own private prayer meeting in my seat, covering a range of needs as Jesus brought them to mind.
As the evening ended and people began to drift out, a longtime friend and pastor who has prayed with me many times in the past walked over to where I was sitting.
“How are you doing?” he asked, with care in his eyes.
I don’t know about you, but I am generally perplexed by how to answer this question in brief social moments. As I paused, trying to figure out which part of my multi-faceted life to share, he rescued me by changing tack:
“Tell me something good,” he said.
I hate to admit it, but at first I felt a twinge of rejection, as if my friend - by directing me toward something good instead of a problem or prayer need - was preemptively avoiding having to invest time praying for me that evening. What a funny thing to think, and I don’t mean haha funny…
But then I realized it was actually a better - and more loving - question.
Follow my logic…
A. Problems in life make us feel afraid.
B. As humans, our natural bent when we feel afraid is to self-protect while we try to figure out a solution. This means spending a LOT of time thinking about our problems, talking about our problems, worrying about our problems… and, yes, praying about our problems. But if we’re not careful, the problems become our primary focus.
Now this…
C. Scripture tells us that “perfect love casts out fear.”
ALSO…
D. Myriad scriptures remind us that Jesus cares about even the smallest details of our lives, that he collects our tears in a bottle, and - oh, by the way - that he loves us so deeply he made the ultimate sacrifice to secure our eternal salvation.
So… lots of love… So why are so many of us still so afraid all the time?
Not to over-simplify, but I will submit two key reasons:
Self-protection often leads to isolation, which shuts down our relational circuits through which love flows, and…
It’s impossible to live in the fear-casting-out gift of God’s love when our primary focus is on our fear-inducing problems.
(It’s also hard to live love when we’re choking on our fear. But that’s a post for another time…)
I’m not suggesting we ignore our problems, or try to pretend everything’s ok when it isn’t. That’s unhealthy in a different way. But if we want to experience peace - and offer it to others - a simple reframe can change everything.
This was the gift of the revised question my friend asked that evening.
“I have a story,” I answered with a smile, and proceeded to update him on a need he had once prayed with me about. It was a good story - a story of seeing God move in an incredible way in a situation that had felt hopeless not that long ago.
As I shared, my heart lifted, and my friend was encouraged to know his prayers had actually made a difference, too. In the telling, I was reminded of the power of gratitude, which reframed my thinking in that moment to remember that Jesus is bigger than my problems, that he loves me, and that I am never alone in whatever life may throw at me.
What about you?
In the midst of whatever feels scary right now, what if you took a moment today and wrote down a word or a phrase or (better yet) a story of something GOOD you’ve seen God do? It doesn’t have to be a big thing; any old not-problem-focused thing will spark gratitude and literally rewire how your brain processes whatever challenges you’re facing.
If you want to take things to the next level, share that story with a friend, so it can continue to bear more fruit.
Because good stories bolster the faith of EVERYONE who hears them. Not just the ones they happen to.
For TRUTH…
- cr
