Those Times When You Want to Disappear
Bible Reading: Hebrews 6:1
Let us go on instead and become mature in our understanding. Hebrews 6:1
“I can’t do it! I hate school!” Todd bellowed, slamming the front door behind him and throwing his book bag on the hall table. “I’m never going back to school again!”
“What’s this all about?” Todd’s dad asked.
“Oh, nothing,” Todd answered glumly. “Except I’m so stupid I’ll soon be going to third-grade math instead of fifth-grade with my classmates.”
His dad made him sit down and explain why he was so frazzled. “I felt like a total idiot, Dad,” he confessed. “We had a test today. It was brutal. And everyone finished before me.”
So will Todd ever figure out how to divide fractions? Of course. And over the next weeks he will figure out that most of his classmates are just as nervous as he is—and feel just as stupid.
News flash: We all have moments when we feel as if we don’t have what it takes to do something well. If you don’t have those moments, you’re either not trying very hard or you never try anything new!
Feeling unsure of yourself is normal. The real problem comes when you think you’re the only one who ever feels frustrated. You need to ditch the thoughts that say you’re dumber or slower or clumsier than everybody else. How would you respond if you heard a friend mumbling:
• “If people knew I can’t____________________, they wouldn’t like me.”
• “I’m the only one who gets nervous about___________________________.”
• “I’m the only person who can’t__________________________.”
When you hear those words coming from someone else, they sound silly. When you say them about yourself, it’s as if they’re totally true.
Those feelings fuzz up your thinking so that you can’t see how all people, young and old, have to cope with limitations. Those thoughts blind you to the fact that God and his people stand ready to help you. And they make you forget that the chance those statements are actually true is somewhere between slim and none.
When you feel like a failure, it’s time to let God, your family, and good friends remind you how false those loser statements are. And it’s time to remember that God and the people who love you accept you even when you struggle.
TALK: Discuss how the people in your family can help one another remember that none of you are alone in your struggles.
PRAY: Jesus, thanks for being with us and for showing us how to encourage each other when things don’t seem to be going so well for us.
ACT: The next time you see yourself as a loser, find a friend to talk sense into you!