Skip to main content

When Answers Create More Questions (And Other Thoughts)


When the answers you receive continue on this vicious cycle of creating more questions, it may be time to stop. 

Just stop asking.

Not every thing needs to be understood. We don't have to know everything, have all our ducks lined up, see the big picture.

It's OK to be in the dark. To let go. To trust with blind faith.

It's OK to be clueless.



When the advice you receive is so drastically different...some of it is wrong, some of it is clouded in mystery, and some of it might be right...and all the opposing people are smart and decent and trustworthy people...it might be good to know this:


Advice is the personal opinion of others based on their own perceptions of their own experiences and ideas. 


Past that, it really isn't much.


You listen to the advice, take what you need (not just what you like) and discard the rest.

Yes, it is OK to discard advice. Large amounts of advice.

Don't be afraid to take it and hear it. But remember: not all of it must be followed through.

Only you and God can truly understand your circumstances. Not all advice is really going to be beneficial. 

Don't worry...people may hate you. People may think you are being stupid.

You very well might be.

But that might be necessary (or you may just need to be more honest with what yourself, and what you are discarding).



When good people hate you and you don't know why and you want to hate yourself, remember this:

"I don't even know me that well."

How could someone else possibly define me that well?

How could someone else possibly tell me all that's wrong with me? Especially after such a short time?

I've known me for years and I'm still figuring things out.

No other human gets to define who or what I am, what I believe, or where my heart and motivations lie.

When you respect and trust another person to such a level of seeing mostly good in them, it can be hard to see the fault in their words.

Even when that fault is obvious.

Even when you know it's not true.

Even when you know that you aren't what they are saying, when you love what they just said you hated and you hate what they insinuated you love.

There comes a time when you must remove your trust from a person, with out loosing respect for them or yourself.

Never stop respecting.

Otherwise you will end up hating everyone.

 But it's OK to stop believing another's words.



When it's hard to be strong and smile, remember:

We aren't meant to be Superman or Wonder Woman.

Tears are OK.

Being a brick isn't.

Being hateful is wrong.

Being void of human emotions is not healthy.

Be weak. Cry. Hurt.

And then heal. Love. And smile.

It is possible to smile as you hurt and crumble and let your guard down.

It is possible to do what's right and laugh and love even when you are weak.





When life changes, taking a sharp turn, God didn't change his mind.

His plan is just bigger than what we imagined.

And it involves ugly, painful thorns in the shape of heartache, betrayal, lies, uncertainty, hypocrisy, misunderstandings, and evil. 

God's ways aren't smooth, happy-go-lucky cloudless rainbows. 

They very much involve growing pain.

Stretching, shaping, severing.

God's ways are best.

And he doesn't change His mind, saying yes then no.

We just have a hard time listening to him amidst our own bouts of self-joy or depression.


His paths are much more complicated and intricate than mere yes's and no's.


So, listen.

Have faith:
 entrust your desires and questions to Him and let Him settle the answers in His own timing. Let Him lead your feet, direct which words you hear and listen to. Allow God's words to matter and define your life - not any friend's. Lean on God's everlasting strength - follow Him and smile as He comforts you. 

Know that God will lead you toward the best life full of His mighty ways if you but follow and trust Him.


Comments

  1. This is beautiful. I was thinking of something similar that other day. Advice can be helpful, but its also based on one's own experience, not the experience of another. Even if the experiences are the same, the person is not so its different. Wonderful post. <3

    iviewrites.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you - and exactly. Advice should never be discarded. There is wisdom in listening (or at least considering). But I'm the end we need to make rational decisions 🤗

      Delete
  2. This is so true! Well written, Keturah.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Well put! Thank you for the encouragement and inspiration, I needed that today! <3

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm glad it was what you needed - it was what I needed, too 😂 So, I wrote it 🤗

      Delete
  4. Ack I love how your posts (or at least the two I've read so far LOL) are super thought-provoking and challenge me to think through things. Sorta like our deep conversation with pizza on Saturday night, haha! I definitely agree with you in that sometimes the advice of others /can/ throw you off track, and that's why it's soo important to always stay in the Bible- God's advice will neeevveeer throw us off track. :D

    Also when I publish this will my words turn pink like everyone else's O-------O

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks! - I love how the pizza turned from theology to counterfeiting to who knows what 😂


      And yes - very pink 🤗

      Delete
  5. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I don’t even have words for this, but it’s beautiful. <3 It’s the sort of thing I kinda already knew, but needed to be reminded of by someone else putting it into words. Thank you for this post!


    Alexa
    thessalexa.blogspot.com
    verbosityreviews.com

    ReplyDelete
  7. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular Posts

Living Like The Amish: Interviews With Three "English" Families PART I

Many people are obsessed with the Amish. I know at one time I was as well, and to a degree I still am. But my perception  has changed with experience. It started a long time ago when my family went to an Amish-held auction (no, it's not a place where you can buy Amish children, but a place where you can buy things from the Amish). I was eleven years old and enthralled to be surrounded by so many Amish. I loved the cockscomb flowers they sold everywhere. I bought a whole box for $2 and dried them for seeds so I could plant my own. But then I experienced my first reality shock concerning the Amish. I had assumed since they lived a simpler life everything about them was completely old-fashioned and natural. Imagine my horror when I saw Amish walking around with soda cans and store-bought ice cream. " Mom ," I said. "He's drinking soda!"  Left to right, back row: Jonny, Jonathan (Dad). Front row: Jacob, Keturah, Rebekah (Mom), Jonah (on Mom's

How Bad Can I Be?: Lyrics That Make You Go "Wow!"

How ba-a-a-ad can I be? I'm just doin' what comes naturally How ba-a-a-ad can I be? I'm just following my destiny How ba-a-a-ad can I be? I'm just doin' what comes naturally How ba-a-a-ad can I be? How bad can I possibly be? Well, there's a principal of nature (principal of nature) That almost every creature knows Called survival of the fittest (survival of the fittest) And check it this is how it goes The animal that is has got to scratch and bite and claw and bite and punch And the animal that doesn't (well the animal that doesn't) winds up Someone else's lu-lu-lu-lu-unch! (I'm just saying') How ba-a-a-ad can I be? I'm just doin' what comes naturally How ba-a-a-ad can I be? I'm just following my destiny How ba-a-a-ad can I be? I'm just doin' what comes naturally How ba-a-a-ad can I be? How bad can I possibly be? Well, there's a principal of business (principal of b

Peace During Patience

“Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.” - Philippians 4:6 My family and I were sitting around the breakfast table several months ago. Mom had just read this verse. One of the kids laughed incredulously, “What is it saying? Be careful for nothing – live recklessly?” “No,” I answered quickly. My tone was very matter-of-fact, blunt, as if I were all-knowing. “It means do not worry.” The kids all nodded among themselves and life continued on for them. But for me life paused at my words. I had heard this verse soooooooo many times. I had always known what it meant. But now? Now it really meant something . “Do not worry.” This path I've chosen. I can not see it. I can not feel it. I do not know where I am. I have chosen to follow God, and no other. But why did He hide the light from my eyes? I must take a step forward. But I do not want to. How long w

Inside The Land Of The Free

Hello. My name is Greg.  I have a lot of time to think. Too much time. Sometimes I think about my life - why I am sitting in prison. I wonder what I could have done different - my life plays before my eyes. "If only..." But even I know that no amount of good works would have stopped tyranny from finding fault with me. It is cold. My clothes are thin. My stomach is empty - occasionally filled with food of no sustenance.  I hide my face in my knees - as if that will somehow protect me from the horrors of this dark cold dungeon.  They keep it cold to freeze me, this I know. It is a part of their game - to drive a lesson into me. As if I have a lesson to learn solely because I was convicted. Convicted, but not  guilty. Years.  68 years for standing against injustice. How many years have I sat in here? I have forgot. All I know is this question, "Was I fated for this? Did God grant my birth