IT IS WHAT IT IS
Well, just kick me when I am down! That is how I felt, many years ago, standing in Walmart’s parking lot, tears streaming down my face. It was not how I had envisioned my day ending. My day had started at 4 am, rushing my husband to the hospital. He had a reoccurrence of congestive heart failure. Fluid would build up in his body causing him to not be able to breath. He would have to go into the hospital for them to try to “drain” that fluid that caused so much pressure on his organs and his ability to breath. At 7am I had to leave him so I could get to my two jobs. He was to go to a room shortly and I was assured that they were going to care for my husband. I went to my jobs, trying to focus on my work, calling him several times to make sure all was going well. At 7:30 pm, I left my second job to head home. I needed to check on our dog (who I ended up taking in the car with me), and I got my husband some clean clothes. I went to the hospital to check on him and spend a bit of time with him. After I left the hospital, I needed to pick up some necessary things from Walmart. When I came out of the store, I remember that I could just barely put one foot in front of the other! I was so exhausted! I could see my dog watching me from my car and that encouraged & helped me to make it. I sat in the driver’s seat and breathed a big sigh of relief. I was finally going to get home and get some much-needed rest!
I pulled out of the parking space and headed for the exit. That is when I heard it. Thump, thump, thump. You guessed it-I had a flat tire. I had been babying that tire for a long time because I did not have the money to get it replaced. So, I turned around and got into a parking space that I knew my son would have room to change the tire. I reached for my phone. I did not have it. I had left it plugged in at home so many hours ago. My feet were hurting and I was “bone tired.” I thought how am I ever going to get back to the store to make the call to my son. I got out of the car and started to walk back to the store. I saw a young couple putting their groceries in their car and putting their baby in its car seat. I asked them if I could use their phone to call my son to come and change my flat tire. My son answered and said he would be right there. I turned around to hand the young woman her phone and I burst into tears. She said I could use a hug and she would pray for me. I turned around and got my dog out of the car on her leash and leaned against my car bawling and praying.
I remember praying and crying with my eyes shut with my head raised to the sky. I opened my eyes and gasped. There before me, in that night sky, was the most beautiful array of stars I had ever seen! Those bright stars touched my heart. They helped me remember that God was right there by my side helping me throughout that day. Were those stars already there? Of course, they were! God did not all of a sudden say, well Keela needs some bright stars right now and poof, they were there shining for me. I prayed to God and He helped me to find peace within my heart through His magnificent beauty in nature. When I looked at those stars, my tears became tears of thankfulness. I had been on the road several times over the last few days. My daughter, who was away at college, had flown in for a friend’s wedding shower. I had gone to the airport, about an hour away from my home, to pick her up. Then, she, my two granddaughters and I had driven ninety miles to see my parents and back home. Then, just the night before I had taken my daughter back to the airport to get back to college. That tire had needed to be aired up several times through the years, which made my car shake if I got over sixty mph. Those stars had become stars of thankfulness! What if that tire had blown on the highway? What if it had gone flat that morning trying to get my husband to the hospital? What if it had blown while I was trying to get to my two jobs? There were so many “what ifs” that could have easily happened. But they did not! It went flat in a stores parking lot. God had been looking after me!
Well, my son got there to change my tire. I am sure he could tell I had been crying but did not say anything. After he got it changed, he said to try to be careful driving on that spare tire. Get the tire fixed or get a new one. I told him I would have to wait until Friday when I got paid. (Ended up that I did not have to drive on it for very long. A dear friend came by one of my jobs and asked for my keys. She said several members at church had gotten some money together to buy me a new tire. Another, thank you God moment!)
I gave my son a big hug and thanked him for coming to my aid. Of course, I started bawling again. Then, he said something profound. He said “it is what it is.” On my way home, I thought about what he said. Some days can hit us so hard! Some days can be so tiring! Some days we can loose loved ones or have a loved one in the hospital! Some days the weight of the world seems to be pushing us down. Some days we feel that we just cannot take one more bad thing happening to us, one more thing that the devil can throw at us. When Jesus was talking to his disciples in John 16:33, He said “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” God tells us that we will have trials. That is life. It is what it is. This world will give us trials each and every day, but God promises that He is right by our side helping us each second of the day. God through Jesus, has overcome the world through Jesus death on the cross. “Be of good cheer” in the verse above, means to be confident and courageous. We have to put our trust and faith in God. This world can give us wealth and seemingly happiness, but this world can also turn on us and give us no hope for future. God is the only hope we can rest on. Earlier in John 16:20, Jesus said “…your sorrow will be turned into joy.” We can have joy in the middle of trials because we, as believers, have the hope of an eternal home when we depart this life; free of all these trials here on earth. We do not know what the future holds, but we know WHO holds the future!
Some days, life can hit us so hard, just like my long day. But life on this earth is just that-here on the earth. What happens to us-happens! It is what it is. There is just nothing we can do sometimes. The devil likes to work his way into our days, happily making as much trouble for us as he can. 1 Peter 5:8 says, “…your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour.” We are here on this earth with its troubles. Psalm 28:7 says, “The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in Him and I am helped. Therefore, my heart greatly rejoices and with my song I will praise Him.”
This life on earth will not be free from days like I just shared with you. We need to remember that God is right by my side; maybe even reminding us through nature that He is there. We just have to reach out to Him. God is right there with us when we are bawling and feel so helpless.
When the weights of this world once again threaten to knock us down, remember to thank God for being there with us throughout the normal day. Thank God of His promise of an eternal home one day. That is where the joy is! That is our hope, our future, our faith!
It is what it is! Thank you, God!
Keela