Yes, I said it.  I’m a pansy.  So right now before some of you start scolding me and others start agreeing (shame on you, by the way), let me explain myself.  Tonight as I was talking to a good friend who was very discouraged, I realized how much of a pansy I have been.  This realization came from recognizing some similar traits in my friend.  We want to have control of our lives, but yet, we’re sissy’s about life.

I want to start by asking, how do you deal with major issues or trials in your life?  Where do you run?  Do you literally run?  Do you cry?  Do you get depressed?  Maybe you even inflict bodily harm upon yourself?  If you answered any of these, well, not trying to be mean, but you are in the same boat as me, and many others.  You, are indeed a pansy.  Now, before you go storming off or crying, again, let me explain by using myself as an example. 

Hi, my name is Heather Reynolds, and I’m a control freak.  I want to figure things out on my own, and when I mess up, I don’t want God to have to deal with the mess.  So I create a bigger mess on my own because… I… am a pansy.  Yes, there are some things in my life that I don’t and CAN’T have control over, but I DO have control over how I react to them.  Dwelling on my mistakes or my hurts just puts me in depression, which I will now refer to as a “pansy-state”.  Holing everything up leaves me in a “pansy-state”.  So now all you very insulted people are wondering, what do you do to NOT be in a “pansy-state”?  Glad you asked!!!

Many people view giving their heartaches, their pains, their mistakes to God as them saying they are too weak to handle things on their own.  Guess what, they’re right.  We are all TOO weak to handle so many burdens on our own!  But I have to ask you, would you rather live your life hurting AND being weak?  Or would you rather acknowledge your weakness, give it all to God, and gain strength thru Him?

God is our heavenly Father.  He watches over us, tries to guide us, and is always there for us.  He sent His ONLY son to carry the biggest burden known to man! The burden of sin.  (How ironic it is that most of our burdens are from our sins)  Do you think that God cannot handle the heartache of you?  Or maybe the brokenness of you?  One song that keeps popping into my mind right now is the song “Cares Chorus” that goes

“I cast all my cares upon You.  I lay all of my burdens down at Your feet.  And anytime that I don’t know what to do, I just cast all my cares upon You.”

You see, we have such an amazing, wonderful God!  He is so selfless in that He will take everything off of our shoulders!  Will your life be totally carefree with God?  No.  Sorry.  Life with God isn’t like a Disney fairytale.  There are people who will persecute you.  I don’t mean that everyone is going to become a martyr, but  you could be persecuted for how you talk, or things you don’t do because they are not pleasing to God.  But I personally think that is a minor consequence considering what could be the punishment for not living in according to how God wishes us to.

I know some people want to find a way to totally forget the past and it not come bother them again.  Sorry, it won’t happen.  If you have made a mistake, there is always a chance that part of the mistake will haunt you for the rest of your life.  That’s just the price we pay for free choice (and our stupidity).  God can forgive us and help us to forgive ourselves, yes.  But sometimes, we just have to live with what we’ve done.  Hopefully those painful reminders will help us to not make that stupid mistake again.

Anyways, my challenge to you is, QUIT BEING A PANSY!  Lose your pride (now the song “Pride Away” by Jeremy Camp is playing in my head).  Be willing to give everything to God and let Him handle everything!  Then you don’t risk making more a mess of your life.

“Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and He delivered them out of their distress.”  (Psalms 107:6)