Abandon Ship or Keep Moving Forward?

Understanding Life's Currents

Life ebbs and flows like a wave. It throws you around and can slam into you hard, flipping you upside down, leaving you disoriented. Yeah, it can be rough—and this is probably an understatement for some people. The real question is: Are you supposed to go back out and conquer that wave, or steer clear of it toward safer waters?

Is this experience God’s way of telling you that the direction you are headed isn’t your divine path? Or is He is refining you by forcing you to learn and grow through the struggle, where you will be rewarded later on? Now, before we move on, yes, I did in fact call "God" a “He”---and before people become up in arms and leave comments about how God is "genderless", I don’t personally care what label you use. I use "Him" out of habit, but feel free to use "She"; two thumbs up and more power to you. Personally, I think we spend too much of our precious time fighting over labels, which only end up dividing us. Regardless, you do you.

The Challenge of Self-Reflection

Back to my point—how do we know if we are meant to abandon ship or master the challenge? First, we have to ask ourselves why we are headed down this path. What’s our motivation? This will actually reveal a lot about our character because where we want to go reflects who we want to be. So ask yourself: Do I wish to help and serve others? Do I want to spread love and guidance? Am I searching for self-improvement to help myself become a better person? If any of these reasons, or ones similar, are an accurate account of why you are suffering through this tumultuous wave, then you may want to stay the course! Becoming better individuals is a part of this life’s journey. However, if your motivation is rooted in deception and manipulation to better yourself at the cost of others, maybe the wave that knocked you down is in fact God's way of telling you to steer in a different direction.

The Illusion of Goodness

What’s interesting is that over 99% of us believe we are good people, and therefore, will rarely do the real work of introspection, asking ourselves our motivation behind our situation. Consequently, this blinds us from seeing the truth so we suffer in the midsts of storm after storm. We feel beaten down by life and remain in the easier, more comforting, victim mentality of "life is too hard and I can't ever get ahead not matter what I do". However, this scenario is NOT the same as when people have suffered at the hands of evil, because that is also a very real separate reality.

Cultivating Faith and Patience

If you master your motivation and realize that it comes from a place of light and love, then comes the harder part: You need to have faith that it will work out—but boy, you might need a lot of patience! Ohhh, this is difficult for even the most faithful of people. When those waves become more than we think we can handle, is the exact time we need to throw our hands up to God!

During our lowest moments, we become inundated with fears, and we begin the comparison game. We notice others’ success, yet all we can see is our own dark valleys. We somehow forget that successful people experience struggles as well.

The Power of Prayer

It’s during those moments when we feel hopeless and defeated that we need to ask for help from our higher power. Ask for guidance and lean into faith wholeheartedly. This is extremely tough for most of us because the natural instinct is to protect ourselves from further hurt and stress, so we give up on our dreams. Having the ability to surrender control and lean into faith when life feels heavy and unpredictable is a difficult feat. We can do this through meditation and prayer, which is an instrumental part of this process! Ironically, when we're struggling, we think we have to do more, leaving less time for prayer. I can guarantee you, this will not get you to the finish line any faster; it may even derail you. Prayer connects you to the divine—the best guide there is.

Embracing Struggles as Growth

And maybe we’re not supposed to look at our challenges and respond with a “white-knuckle” approach, fighting our way to the surface. The wave is more powerful than us every time, so maybe we’re supposed to figure out how to flow with it (not against it), while swimming to the top. This is how we can be guided by God. Try to relax, even in the toughest of situations, because He will steer us through the rough waters. It will give you tremendous strength, knowing that a powerful force is always rooting for your success --- if you are willing to have trust and faith. Because the greatest gains we make in life come from our biggest struggles. This is difficult, I know. But please, believe you are not struggling alone. You are never alone.

“The Lord is my shepherd...He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me...Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life.”

Psalm 23 redacted version

Seeking Further Guidance

If you’re looking for further guidance, check out my socials:

📱 TikTok: @jamie_innerlight

📘 Facebook: InnerLight Body & Soul

You can also contact me directly for private coaching: jamieinnerlight@gmail.com

Love,

Jamie