Confessions of a Should-er

I am a former should-er, yes, that is correct, a should-er. It should have been this way. I shouldn’t have done that. I should have done this. That shouldn’t have happened. This should have happened. In fact, I have been caught should-ing all over myself! LOL!

Earlier this week, I read a part in Sheila Walsh’s book “Let Go” that said this, “What should have happened did”. Such a simplistic phrase, but loaded with meaning. In fact, I have spent the entire week catching my should-ing and replacing it with “what should have happened did”.

At first this was a tough pill to swallow. Not just for my own little simplistic life, but when I think about countless others who are in tremendous pain or heartache. There are deaths, horrendous crimes, sexual abuse, physical abuse, verbal abuse, emotional abuse, school shootings, car accidents, drug overdoses, cancer, babies with cancer – and you are trying to tell me what should have happened did? It can be a tough thing to accept. But God is sovereign in ALL things. He IS sovereign.

I don’t know why bad things happen. But I know that they do. And when they do, those of us left in the midst or left behind are often carrying around very heavy heavy suitcases full of feelings. Bitterness, hurt, sadness, resentment, anger, denial, confusion, despondency, guilt, shame, and the list could go on and on and on. And should-ing, let us not forget they should-ing.

So, we have a choice here. We can continue to walk around with our suitcases closed up. Hauling them wherever we go. Believing that things “should” have been different. Stuck.

Or we can choose to believe Romans 8:28, that God works for the good of those who love Him – IN ALL THINGS. We can choose to open up the suitcase, wide open, and let God in. You aren’t going to scare Him with the contents. He already knows what’s in there, even the anger, even the anger at Him. He can take it. He can turn it, all of it, into something beautiful if you let Him.

Should. Maybe there is a reason it starts with the “sh” sound. Because when we stop short of should-ing, we get “shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh”. And we just might hear Him whisper, “shhhhhhhhh, quiet your heart my dear, I know, and I care, I love you, and I am with you.”

Job 19:25 “I know that my redeemer lives, and that in the end He will stand on earth”

Romans 8:28 “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”