Have you ever tried to muscle out a good attitude or force yourself to be happy only to reach a tipping point at some time during the day and all heck breaks loose?
It's like we are operating with a super thin margin and any little thing can set us off.
How does that happen?
We're up and at it in the morning apparently doing pretty good. Just finished reciting some affirmations in the mirror and pumping up the tires. We hop in the car heading off to work or psych ourselves up for when the kids wake up, and we're ready to 'getter done'. Then it just takes one thing to poke around the edges of our happiness, or a little scratch on the surface of our confidence, and
poof all the stuff below the surface becomes exposed.
Not only that, but most people can see through the thin veneer even before the bubble bursts.
It's not really possible to hide what's below the surface.
It's like walking in the forest and observing what's around you. It seems like there isn't much going on there. The occasional chipmunk scurries by, some moss on a rock, a spider web across the path. But take a stick and poke below the surface into the soil and you will discover thousands of creatures small and smaller.
Skin that covers our bodies and the clothes we wear make us somewhat presentable in public. Everything looks controlled on the surface but peel back the skin and you find out how complex this body really is. There's
a lot going on below the surface.
All of life is more than skin deep.
I was observing the river in my back yard this morning. It was 'dead calm' as the Maritimers would say. Not a single ripple on the surface. The trees on the far shore were reflecting off of the mirrored surface.
But below the surface of the water it's a different story. Abundant life with vegetation and fish everywhere. One of my patients recently told me that he pulled out a 48 inch muskie in this section of the river so I am reminded that there is a lot more going on below that's not immediately evident.
And so it with our brains and minds. The conscious mind can only handle so many thoughts at a time, but go below the surface to our subconscious mind and there are millions of processes occurring every second.
Looking at the world from the view that we should avoid pain and suffering leads to some pretty difficult times. In this life we will have pain and plenty of it and there will be suffering.
But what if all the pain and suffering could be redirected for a greater purpose? What if it prepares us for our true calling?
I don't believe that we can know what our calling truly is until we have suffered first. Human nature is so self centred that we need to be broken before God can use us. Every roadblock is actually a divine redirection pointing us to the narrow path He is calling us to.
It's interesting that Jesus confirms that suffering is necessary. Jesus suffered a horrible painful physical death on the cross, but the deepest pain came from the separation from God His Father.
They had been one from the beginning of time until their relationship was ripped apart at the cross for you and me. Jesus bore the pain of our sin, but he also bore the unbelievable pain of having his Father look away. The good news is that three days later that relationship was restored! This allowed us to be restored in love with our heavenly Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. The fabric of that restoration is God's love.
God's love is what runs just below the surface when we are focused on Christ's sacrifice and His love for us. When someone or something scratches the surface of our existence, God's love should pour out.
If we want to be able to have God's love flow through us to those around us from above down inside out, then we need to be focused on God's love for us. It is His love that flows from above to us proven by His sacrifice for us.
Stay focused on what is going on just below the surface and what is flowing out of you from above down inside out.
Coach Yurij
Chain Breaker
Warrior Coaching
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