Sunshine, lollipops, and rainbows?

My friend used to sing the, “Sunshine, lollipops, and rainbows” song when we were in college and it somehow stuck with me. I remember first hearing that and was like “YES! That’s what I want life to be.” Nothing but happiness, peace, love…just pure bliss. It’s funny because when I gave my life to Christ I thought that was exactly what I was going to get – sunshine, lollipops, and rainbows. No, not literally, but I did think life would get easier for me overnight.

Let me tell you – easy is the OPPOSITE of what happened. Crazy right?! My life got so much harder that many times I thought about quitting this whole Christian thing and going back to “old Kela.” Shut, I was not about this life at all. God blessed me with an amazing job, but the job didn’t quite pay enough for me to relax and not worry about my bills. Many times I had no idea where my next meal was going to come from or how the rent was going to be paid. My pride, attitude, and negative behavior still existed and I didn’t “feel like” doing many of the things God was telling me to do.

Y’all I thought something was wrong with me. For real, I thought that I wasn’t good enough to become a “new creation” and that my past was just way too bad for God to truly accept me into His family. I didn’t understand why when people made me upset why I wasn’t able to smile with joy back at them. I didn’t understand why my negative thoughts didn’t disappear on their own. I was on the pity party train and had no intentions of getting off. Then one day, God said to me “I never promised you an easy life. I never told you that everything disappeared overnight. So stop with the pity party and waiting for your circumstances to change and begin moving towards your blessing.” He lead me to John 5 about the man who was sick for thirty-eight years (emphasis on THIRTY-EIGHT!!!)

Afterward Jesus returned to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish holy days. Inside the city, near the Sheep Gate, was the pool of Bethesda, with five covered porches. Crowds of sick people—blind, lame, or paralyzed—lay on the porches. One of the men lying there had been sick for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him and knew he had been ill for a long time, he asked him, “Would you like to get well?” “I can’t, sir,” the sick man said, “for I have no one to put me into the poolwhen the water bubbles up. Someone else always gets there ahead of me.”Jesus told him, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk!”

Read it again.

Do you see what this man said? He told Jesus he COULDN’T. But would the word WOULDN’T be better suited for him? Because he goes on to say that he was waiting for SOMEONE ELSE to put him in the pool!!! Like what?! He was sabotaging himself by spending years debilitated because instead of taking action himself he was waiting on someone else to save the day! How many of you know someone who is waiting on someone else to do “x” in order for them to do “y” ---- WAIT---before you think of that person, think about yourself first.

Is there something in your life that you have been putting off because it’s just not the right time? Is there an area in your life that you’re struggling in and haven’t tackled because you’re waiting on “God to show you a sign/speak?” Well, he spoke a long time ago – GET UP AND WALK! Stop blaming other people for your mishaps! Stop putting your responsibility on someone else’s plate! Your salvation isn’t dependent on those other people! Those other people aren’t going to be at the judgment seat apologizing to Jesus for your lack of doing! YOU ARE!

The “sunshine, lollipops, and rainbows” illusion ends right now. Your life is not going to be easy. Stop waiting on it to change. God has a promise for you at the end of each path you take but you will never receive it if you don’t--- Stand up. Pick up your mat. And WALK! I don’t know what that looks like for you. But, I do know that doing nothing is no longer an option.