The Better Alternative to Life’s Quick Fixes

This is a devotional post that accompanies two DIY tutorials: How to Fill Nail Holes Like a Pro | How to Match Wall Paint Already on Your Wall

When I get overwhelmed or stressed, those are the times I am most vulnerable to a quick fix.  Maybe it’s a new planner, a better diet, or a more comprehensive self-care routine, but reaching for a temporary bandaid won’t address the real problem underneath.

We are surrounded by ads to help us feel better, manage our stress, sleep better and even lower our cortisol levels.  Amazon is inundated with products to give us more time, better sleep and cleaner homes.

When I feel like I’m drowning in the details of life, these are the times I want to plan a different morning routine or order that new self-help book that I just know will magically make the pieces of my life’s problems fall into place like never before.

It can be so much easier to press a mental restart button than to admit something about you or your life isn’t working like you intended.

But can I tell you something my friend…I have pressed the restart button dozens of times.  I have said to myself, “This planner will finally make life easier,” or “These vagus nerve stretches will finally lower my stress levels for good!” But do you know what God has shown me every single time? 

He has shown me that there are no quick fixes because He offers us so much better than a life vest.  Instead, He offers us Himself. 

Cultivating a relationship with our Maker is the best life hack we could ever imagine. 

And while that seems so simple, there is something about my human-ness that makes that hard. For me personally, I have an independent streak, and oftentimes, I would rather fix it myself than go to the only One who can really fix life’s difficulties for me.

I waste time relying on life vests when my Heavenly Father sits beside me, waiting for me to take His hand, so He can pull me out of the water.

While I’m not saying the Christian life is easy, I am saying that there is no problem that our Heavenly Father can’t handle.

“For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.” – Psalm 103:11-12

What if you could buy a book with time-management hacks customized specifically for your brain or your doctor could tell you one-and-for-all exactly what is off with your hormones and how to fix it???

These things would be wonderful gifts from God. But when I turn my focus onto the gifts, instead of the Giver of the gifts, that’s where we can easily forget that He is the source of all of life’s provision.

Life vests aren’t bad.  The Lord knows I have stacks of time-management books, a self-care plan and medication I take each day.  I’m also a very proud owner of a robot vacuum. 

These things are not bad in and of themselves but I become shortsighted when I try to seek a life vest before consulting the only One who has power to calm the storm.

Tools aren’t bad and God has used a lot of these tools in my life that have been instrumental in my healing.  But God wants us to seek Him first so He can address the problem and use the best tools, whatever they may be, to help you sail through life’s hardships with faith in Him.

Because when God heals us, it’s never just physical, but He seeks to transform us from the inside out.  He loves us too much to give us temporary, external solutions when He can give us a permanent, internal transformation that only comes from seeking Him.

Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all things will be added unto you.

Don’t seek the Gift when what you really need is the Giver. He’s gracious to give us tools to help us, but when we take our eyes off Him, we will surely feel like we are drowning in life’s difficulties.

So when you feel like you are drowning and want to look for a life vest, take a second to turn to Him. God loves to give His children but we don’t look past His gifts to the giver, we miss out on the best gift of all.

When we stop and seek Him in the midst of life’s trials, we use our FULLY paid, all-access pass to the only One who can solve life’s problems.

“See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.” 1 John 3:1

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