Being in the battle of life.

Where do you go when life seems to hit you hard and you have nowhere to go? OK for all you spiritual people, I know, I know, you go to God. But I mean in reality what do you do? Some go to their pastor, some to a good friend, others an advisor or counselor, others to family, and then there are those that deal with it on their own. I am not going to say that one or the other is the best because I feel that in each one of us there is a safe place that we can go. Throughout our life we have searched and found that one place we can go or at least I hope that we have.

I have found several different places that are fairly safe to go to. Yes, God is one of them, but sometimes when I need an answer that I am not hearing from God I seek it from other individuals or groups. Being that I do attend church I find answers from men who you want to believe, should be in constant contact with God. They are there for that weekly or semi-weekly feeding, pastors and Sunday school instructors. But because I have been burned by “spiritual” people I do not fully trust in that. I attend several groups that give me insight in many areas, one being a Bible study and the other being a Journey Group of singles. You would think that those are fairly good places also, but are they? In the places I mentioned you tend to find posers, people that are pretending to be something that they are not, to show spirituality. I have found that though these are decent places sometimes you just can not be open and honest because in doing so you show weaknesses. The last thing that a poser wants to do is show weakness, because then they are not what they are showing themselves to be. So you get the typical church answer. It is always easy to present the church answer because you can not go wrong with it. You mention a verse or what some Biblical great has said concerning it and therefore, Amen Brother!!! I have walked away from those feeling so empty and even further lost because I did not get the help I needed. I failed to mention support groups, you know, the ones where you are held accountable. Those that tell you that you failed by doing this or by going in that direction, giving you the feeling that you are an even bigger failure. That doesn’t work either.

What am I getting at then? Myself, I need a group that is not afraid to show themselves for whom they are. The expression we use is to get naked. To expose yourself so all can see that you have nothing to hide. When you are totally open and honest then you are free to be there for someone. Admitting that in the past I have failed but also that I have successes to lean on. All of us have our failures and successes and we take this and combine it with our knowledge, then we are able to help others. Banding together with others that have fought similar battles is where I want to be when it comes to confronting life’s battles. Battles do come with fights and not all of these fights are won, but to go into the fight with others that are willing to stand with me is how I want to go. Knowing that the person next to me is going to fight as hard as I am gives me the courage and strength to stand and fight even harder. This gives me the chance to win some of those battles life throws at me.