Like I describe in My Cinderella Story, I had an unenviable life. No one would want it, and neither did I, and no matter what I did, I woke to the same difficult circumstance every day. If you’ve ever needed to make a change but found yourself unable, you know what I am saying. I felt like God singled me out for a special dose of misery and pain. Since I felt like God was the cause, I took the matter straight to Him.
God took me straight to the Book of Job where I read, studied, and prayed. It took a while, but eventually I realized something. I heard the phrase, “God is in control,” all the time, and most of the time I accepted it as something polite that people say to attempt to explain the unexplainable. But studying the Book of Job taught me in real time, for my own personal life, that if God controls my negative circumstance, He can control the positive as well. And I started to see my life that way: as something God can change for the better in His own time, not mine.
So, I took stock. I had some things going for me. I had a job, maybe not a good one, but a job. I had a car. Nothing fancy, but four wheels and a working engine. I had my health. And I could try to lean into the life that God gave me instead of trying to change it. So, I chose to accept my life the way it was. I used my resources to build a life that worked for me. Instead of trying to change my job, I performed well in the job I had. Instead of trying to get a better car, I kept the one I had in good condition. And I started focusing on improving my health. In other words, I accepted my life as it was and tried to be grateful. I mean really tried. I dusted off one of my old journals, tore out the old pages, and repurposed it as a gratitude journal, where I would write down something to be grateful for every day. And I kept going to God for guidance. And gradually, my life became more manageable. Meaning, I wasn’t miserable and constantly trying to change it. I had started living it.
If you want to make your life more manageable, you can CURATE it:
C = Choose to lean in and accept your life as it is. God is in control.
U = Use your resources to live a life of peace.
R = Reflect on God’s goodness in where you are right now.
A = Add regular quality time with God. Pray, listen, surrender.
T = Take stock. Things could always be worse, even if you don’t see how.
E = Enjoy God’s blessings right where you are.
I encourage you to read the Book of Job from beginning to end. Take your time with it. When you get toward the end where God speaks from a whirlwind, try answering His questions. I tried, and I couldn’t. It was the beginning of really seeing God in a new light for the circumstance I was in. It was the beginning of a life of surrender to God. And of gratitude. Enjoy!