I have had three automobile accidents in my lifetime and each time I was blindsided. I did not see that motorcycle or those two automobiles until after the damage was done.
To paraphrase that ubiquitous bumper sticker, life happens, and, yes, since it rains on the just and the unjust, life will often blindside us.
I was blindsided a few weeks ago; my truck began to shake, rattle and roll and when I took it in to the mechanic, he said, “Major Tune-Up and gave me the cost.
“Can’t afford that right now,” was what I thought so I determined I would just shake, rattle and roll until I could get the truck fixed. I had just signed on to City Car Share, so I would had that option for those moments when I had to drive some distance.
Then it happened; the truck began to run hot and at every stop, water had to be added. I had managed to get the funds together for the major tune-up but when mechanic took a look on Monday, he declared that this second issue had to be fixed first, something like twice the estimate for the tune-up.
Whaaat!!! I had just managed to get the money I needed for the tune-up and now I was being told I would need twice that amount?
Can you say blindsided?
Now, I will be the first to admit that when life blindsides me, I don’t always go to the spiritual side. Pardon me if I am not Susie Super Spiritual All The Time. Sometimes I go to the dark side, the woe-is-me side, the “nobody knows the trouble I’ve seen” side! I go to the table in the corner in the back in dark where I nurse my sorrows.
You can judge me deficient, if you like, but that’s where I went but I didn’t stay there long, just long enough to realize that Sorrow Songs (W.E.B. DuBois used this terminology for Negro Spirituals) were not going to take care of the problem.
My grandmother used to sing a song, “Couldn’t hear nobody pray…..” She taught me that song when I was a little girl and from that song Donna, the adult, gets the point that sometimes you just have to pray yourself out of that valley, all alone, by yourself; sometimes the only voice you hear will be your voice.
I got another estimate, which was ½ of my first mechanic’s estimate, and through the Lord’s grace, the truck was fixed.
But, my predicament got me to thinking, “What do you do when life blindsides you?”
What Do You Do When Life Blindsides You?
Blindside: catch unawares, especially with harmful consequences
Right Away: Assess The Damage But Do Not Assume Responsibility For The Repair
Psalm 61:1-3
Retreat: Get Away From The Confusion
James 4:8
1 Kings 19
Be Careful: Choose Your Confidantes Wisely Because Sometimes They Will Make You Think That It’s Your Fault
Job 2:11-13
Pay Attention: Follow Directions Even When They Make No Sense
Gideon: From 33,000 to 300
Recognize: The Claim Work Is Not Yours
2 Chronicles 20:1-15
Psalm 27
Prepare For Battle: Put On All the Armor of God
Ephesians 6:10-18
Expect Victory: Practice Praise In The Face Of Battle
2 Chronicles 20:15-24
Psalm 27
Do Not: Rehearse Your Misery To Anyone Who Will Listen
We seem to love to tell our stories of misery and pain. We regale anyone who will listen with our tales of traged
and chaos. We tell these stories over and over again as though we are going into some great production, “My
Misery.”
Stop: Rehearsing Your Misery
The Beatles song, “Yesterday” is a beautiful song, but it is also a song of sorrow, a song of loss. When life blindsides you it is very easy to fall into the pit of woe. We console ourselves with tears as we consider the “damage.”
Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away
Now it looks as though they’re here to stay
Oh, I believe in yesterday.
Suddenly, I’m not half to man I used to be,
There’s a shadow hanging over me.
Oh, yesterday came suddenly.
Why she had to go I don’t know she wouldn’t say.
I said something wrong, now I long for yesterday.
Yesterday, love was such an easy game to play.
Now I need a place to hide away.
Oh, I believe in yesterday. ~Paul McCartney
Learn The Lesson
Job 42:5
Stop Telling The Story
The fact that you were blindsided will not change. Telling the story over and over will not change anything. You might as well choose to tell another story. Why not tell of God’s redemption in spite of the fact that Adam’s decision blindsided all mankind for centuries. It is because of His great love and mercy that we can endure the challenges that are part and parcel of being blindsided. The old hymn is a reminder of whose praises we should constantly sing, even when we are blindsided.
I love to tell the story of unseen things above,
of Jesus and his glory,of Jesus and his love.
I love to tell the story, because I know 'tis true;
it satisfies my longings as nothing else can do.
I love to tell the story, 'twill be my theme in glory,
to tell the old, old story of Jesus and his love.
2. I love to tell the story; more wonderful it seems
than all the golden fancies of all our golden dreams.
I love to tell the story, it did so much for me;
and that is just the reason I tell it now to thee.
3. I love to tell the story;'tis pleasant to repeat
what seems, each time I tell it, more wonderfully sweet.
I love to tell the story, for some have never heard
the message of salvation from God's own holy Word.
4. I love to tell the story,for those who know it best
seem hungering and thirsting to hear it like the rest.
And when,in scenes of glory, I sing the new, new song,
'twill be the old, old story that I have loved so long.
DonnaNotDiva Off The Air 