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What to Do When You Feel Guilty for Being Okay · Daily Devotions for Busy Lives

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  Bart Leger: Johanna had a good life, and it bothered her. Her
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  family was close, and her faith had pretty steady through the
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  ordinary ups and downs. From the outside, nothing was falling
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  apart. And that was the problem. Everywhere she looked, other
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  people were shouldering loads she couldn't even imagine. A
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  friend was going through chemo. Another woman at church watched
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  her marriage come undone. Beyond her own circle, she read about
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  believers overseas who paid for their faith with everything they
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  had. A thought took root. She had no business having things
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  this good. So she did what a lot of us do with that kind of guilt.
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  She tried to pay it back. She said yes to every request and
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  made every need her own. If she could empty herself out far
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  enough, maybe she'd earned the right to a life that came easier
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  than most it did not work. The more she poured out, the more
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  there was to pour. She started running on fumes, and she
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  couldn't understand why. Doing so much good left her feeling
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  like she was going under. We'll come back to what changed for
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  her, but
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  first, welcome to Daily Devotions for Busy Lives. I'm
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  Bart Leger. I think I know a little bit about how Johanna
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  feels. As a pastor, I spent much of my career with people in the
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  worst stretch of their lives. They've just lost a loved one. A
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  marriage is falling apart. A diagnosis. And then I drive home
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  to a house that's still standing, to a wife I love, to a life that
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  mostly works. There have been plenty of days when that felt
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  almost wrong, like I hadn't earned the right to be okay
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  while the person I had just prayed with was falling apart.
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  Maybe you felt a version of that, too. Maybe you felt a version of
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  that, too. Your marriage is solid. Theirs is ending. Your
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  kids are doing fine while someone else's are in crisis.
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  And instead of being grateful, you almost feel ashamed of it.
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  You catch yourself hiding in the good news, downplaying the
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  vacation, because it feels cruel to be okay when someone you love
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  is not. Somewhere in there, you start to believe you don't have
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  permission to enjoy your own life while another person is in
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  pain. That guilt is pretty common. And it comes from a
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  decent It means you love people and you notice their pain. But
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  left alone, it does something strange. It makes you think you
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  need to apologize for the very thing God gave you. And it can
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  push you to do what Johanna did, to try to pay off your blessing
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  by pouring yourself out until there's nothing left. There's a
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  better way to think about what you have, and Paul spelled it
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  out. Listen to 2 Corinthians 1, verses 3 and 4. Did you hear
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  that? God comforts us so that we can comfort others. And that
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  comfort is a supply given to be passed on. God pours peace and
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  stability into your life on purpose. And part of that
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  purpose is the hurting person he's going to put in front of
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  you. Your stable marriage is a resource. The peace you have is
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  something God is placing in your hands to hand someone who has
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  none right now. That changes what you do with being okay. And
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  I know that sometimes you're not okay, but God does give the
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  grace, and you can pass that grace on. You don't have to hide
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  it. And you don't have to burn it down out of guilt. You get to
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  be grateful for it, and then you get to spend it on other people.
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  the strength of yours to hold on to for an afternoon. So take the
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  guilt that God says, For years she'd assumed the answer was to
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  try harder. Then a verse she'd read a hundred times arrested
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  her attention. The one where God says he wants obedience more
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  than sacrifice. Johanna saw that she'd been trying to sacrifice
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  her way out of a gift, the guilt that had never come from God.
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  for her to take his kindness and then to comfort other people out
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  of the fullness she'd been given. She stopped apologizing for
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  being okay. And for the first time in a long while, she had
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  something that she could offer to others without feeling guilty.
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  Notice what changed things for her. She finally received the
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  gift instead of trying to pay it off. Once she took God's
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  kindness in it, she had something to give, and she gave
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  it without the shame attached. Here's today's challenge. Think
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  of one person in your life right now who's not okay. Instead of
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  shrinking back because your life is more stable than theirs,
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  offer them something out of what you have. Bring the meal or take
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  their kids for the afternoon so they can breathe. Lead with the
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  comfort God has already given you and pass a little of it on.
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  You'll find you're not running out. You're finally doing what
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  the comfort was for. Father, thank you for the good you've
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  put in our lives, the stability we sometimes feel guilty about.
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  Forgive us for treating your gifts like debts to be repaid.
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  Help us receive your comfort without shame, and then help us
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  spend it on the people around us who are hurting. Make us the
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  ones who come with something to offer. And thank you that
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  everything we have to give, we first received from you. In
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  Jesus' name, amen. If this episode encouraged you today,
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  would you share it with someone who might need to hear it? Just
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  go to dailydevotionsforbusylives.com
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  slash 312 and copy the link. It only takes a second, and it
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  might make a real difference in someone's day. Thanks for
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  joining me on Daily Devotions for Busy Lives. Remember, the
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  peace you have is meant to be passed on. Be grateful for what
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  you've been given, and then put it to work for someone who needs
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  it. Come back next time for more encouragement to help you live
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  grounded in God's truth. Until then, God bless and have a great
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  day.