Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash[/caption]

Today is a guest post by Sheri Bybee Mitchell with Good Job, Mama on Facebook. I met her a while ago after she left an excellent, thought-provoking comment on a post. Since she doesn’t have a blog that I can share with you, I asked her to share this excellent post she wrote on Facebook about a crisis she and her family went through a decade ago. What God showed her is applicable to us today. That is if we have ears to hear what God may be saying to us in our current crisis. 

The Choice Is Ours

Anger
Fear
Mistrust
Confusion
Accusation
Chaos
Division
Complaining
Dissension
Selfishness

That is what I see played out day after day on Facebook during this crisis.

What do we NEED in this time?

More…

Compassion
Kindness
Gentleness
Understanding
Humility
Faithfulness
Gratitude
Grace
Hope
Joy
Truth
Mercy
Love

Every situation we face in life reveals our hearts and gives us the opportunity to make a choice. We either go deeper into what has been revealed, becoming entrenched in what has been revealed, or we seek to change and become something better. This current circumstance is no different.

When our family went through homelessness from 2010-2013, that struggle revealed that I had NO trust in the goodness of God, nor in the fact that He knew what He was doing. I was angry, afraid of everything and everyone, ungrateful, self-centered, and willing to cast blame. I wanted to be in control and I wanted my life to be easier.

That crisis in our lives SHOOK me to my very core. It was EXTREMELY difficult and it lasted a LOT longer than I ever thought possible.

And it was good, so good for me.

Being homeless stripped me of any pretense and revealed the truth of my heart. And what was revealed was not good!

In that struggle God revealed the truth of my heart and then He set out to redeem, restore and renew all that He wanted to be in my heart….

Faith
Hope
Joy
Grace
Mercy
Humility
Gratitude
Compassion
Love

Every day, through the many circumstances of life, God continues to show me areas of my heart where I have yet to fully surrender. Areas where I choose fear over faith, control over trust, accusation over understanding, irritation over compassion, anger over love.

Yet, I can also see how much I have grown and changed since those years of homelessness. I can see where I have grown in trusting Him and the goodness of His heart. I can see where I have less fear of people and what they might think of me. And I see where I have grown in the ability to love, which is the mark of those who truly follow Christ.

God continues to use the circumstances of my life to draw me to His side and teach me of His heart.

Crisis and struggle can cause us to become ugly, angry, fear-filled, hopeless, bitter, selfish people.

Or crisis and struggle can be the scalpel that reveals and removes the ugliness and sin that has taken up residence in our hearts, and allows us to look and act more like Jesus.

Which one will this current crisis be for you?

Sheri has been married for 27 years, 20 of which were incredibly difficult. Had four kids in four years, which was chaotic and wonderful, but never easy. Life has included health challenges, family challenges, financial struggles, and relationship struggles. Through it all, God was faithful and good, and He redeemed, restored and renewed health, marriage, family and finances. Sheri is a diehard introvert who enjoys being alone, but God continues to stretch her to share her life with others through social media, magazine articles and, eventually, a book, in order to bring glory to His name and help others in their own journey of life. You can follow her on Good Job, Mama on FaceBook.