It’s Okay to NOT be Okay.
A group of simple words. But that’s the thing with words…large or small, the impact they can have can change everything.
I sat on the edge of my bed. I was on the phone with a friend. She was really struggling. Life was getting to her. The pressure was weighing on her like a weighted backpack full of responsibilities, emotions and other things life seems to deliver on the daily.
It was clear she wasn’t just having a bad day, she was in the midst of a tough SEASON!
I could relate. I know these emotions. I was so familiar with the heaviness she was feeling.
I began to make it my mission to cheer her up.
I tried giving her advice. I quoted some scripture. I spit out a few inspirational quotes I had absorbed recently. I reminisced on a few fun and happy memories. I even suggested a gratitude journal.
Still, I could hear her tears falling from her sad eyes as if I could physically see her sitting next to me on the bed.
The silence between us was thick, but it gave me a moment to think about the times I have felt like this. The seasons that felt so hard all I wanted to do was either climb into bed and sleep for a year OR I wanted to scream so loud with frustration that the neighbors were sure to call 9-1-1 on the crazy lady next door.
Then it struck me. THAT WAS IT! There were days I was numb and there were days I needed to release all of my emotions…and either way, IT WAS OKAY TO NOT BE OKAY.
I remembered that this is exactly what I needed the most. Permission.
So, I cleared my throat and I said her name, then I whispered:
“It’s Okay to NOT be Okay.”
This is what I should have done when she called me with panic and sorrow in her trembling voice.
It was the permission she was longing for. The permission I look back and realize I often desired. If only I had given it to myself years ago.
Sometimes all we need is acknowledgement that we aren’t alone and that it’s completely Okay to be in a rough season. There’s nothing wrong with it.
As a matter of fact, Jesus loves moments like these.
Moments where we need Him.
Moments where He can lean in close to us and whisper how much He loves us.
Moments where He can give us that tender companionship we so deeply desire.
By the time my friend and I hung up the phone, I felt like I hadn’t done a whole lot, but gosh, it was ENOUGH.
As you read these words, you might be going through something substantially heartbreaking.
Maybe you are facing things you don’t even understand right now.
Maybe you are encountering trials as a NEW mom, a MID-SEASON mom or as a SEASONED mama.
Maybe YOU are NOT Okay.
I get it. I’ve been there. I’ve been so not Okay that I thought I wouldn’t survive one more day in that wretched season of despair.
When I was in that miserable season, I clawed at every single scenario that I thought would heal my situation. Sometimes my soul was filled with so much hopelessness that I began to think I may be better off if I fell asleep and never woke back up.
Those are some dark and lonely feelings.
But, sisters, among those daunting feelings, there is something that can repair, rebuild and begin to recondition our hearts and souls.
God and His refreshing Word is something so easy to access yet we rarely think to dig into the one thing that can heal our brokenness.
He doesn’t always transform our situations right away and we don’t always feel something new instantly. That is because not everyone’s story is the same. Each of us have our own stories, but God is unchanging!
Can I say that again for the masses to hear? GOD IS UNCHANGING!
He is and will always be right there with us. HAND IN HAND, walking beside us. We are never alone.
Even though I walk
through the darkest valley,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.
So today, take an immense amount of comfort in knowing it is OKAY to NOT be Okay. There’s restoration in His arms. At His feet is a place for healing and a place where eventually He will make every single thing Okay again!
