Blog

by Ami Samuels

Have you ever been blindsided by life, everything is going along as planned, and out of nowhere something unexpected hits you so hard it knocks the wind out of you? You find yourself holding your breath, reminding yourself to breathe, to get through this moment, day, month, year. In the popular movie The Blind Side, Sandra Bullock’s character Leigh Anne Tuohy explains in the opening monologue that the second highest paid player in the NFL is the left tackle. It is the left tackle’s job to protect the quarterback from what he can’t see, to protect his blind side. Check out the clip here.

What has blindsided you in life? What has happened that you didn’t see coming? Maybe your spouse came home from work one day and asked for a divorce; maybe it is the sudden death of a loved one; or perhaps your boss walks in one day and announces that the company you have devoted your life to is downsizing and you will lose your job. Blindsided, wham! Out of nowhere your life is turned upside down.

The first time I was blindsided by life was after the birth of my first son, Brandon. I found myself curled up in a ball on my parents’ couch crying uncontrollably as my mom took care of my newborn son and me. My sister encouraged me to call the doctor because she thought that I was experiencing postpartum depression. I remember thinking, depressed? Why am I depressed? I prayed for this baby, I planned for this baby, I prepared for this baby, what on earth do I have to be depressed about? It was obvious to everyone but me that I was clearly depressed. I forced myself off of the couch and called the doctor with tears in my eyes and found the help I needed to get over that season in my life. However, during this difficult and confusing time, I remember repeating this scripture verse over and over to myself from Deuteronomy 31:8: “I will never leave you or forsake you.” I held on to that promise as I rode out that storm in my life.

I have battled depression on and off in my adult life. One day when I was trying to drag myself out of bed I felt like God gave me the words to a song:

“Jesus didn’t die for us to live this way
Broken hearted, empty handed, cast away.
Jesus Saves, Jesus Saves!
He is light out of darkness
The empty tomb
Strength in our weakness
Joy in full bloom.
Because, Jesus didn’t die for us to live this way
Broken hearted, empty handed, cast away
Jesus Saves, Jesus Saves!”

The words to that song helped me to get out of bed that day and reminded me of John 10:10, “I (Jesus) have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” We were born to LIVE! Not merely survive from day to day but live life to the fullest.

I know that our lives are busy. Maybe you’re thinking that your life is already full. You work a full time job, volunteer at church, your children have activities, not to mention your household responsibilities, and there are only so many hours in a day. Living life to the full doesn’t mean full of activities or merely being busy. Ask yourself, is your life full of peace, joy, and hope? Or do you find in your hectic schedule that you long for a sanctuary of peacefulness? The beginning of John 10:10 says that, “The enemy comes to steal, kill and destroy.” One of Satan’s most effective tools is to convince us that if we are busy we have purpose. We can have a life full of activities, and if we miss spending time with Jesus we invite the thief in to steal our peace, kill our joy, and destroy our hope.

In John 15 Jesus says the phrase “remain in me” six times. The King James Version says “Abide in me.” Abide means to wait, to put up with, to live up to, to submit to, and carry out. Abide in me (Jesus), when you don’t know the plan; abide in me when life is hard; abide in me when you are lonely, afraid, tired; abide in me – Jesus.

We remain in Jesus by spending quiet uninterrupted time reading our Bible, in prayer, and sitting quietly at his feet listening. If we are not filling ourselves up with the Word, in Jesus’ presence, and maintaining this relationship we will be left empty. We minister to those around us out of the overflow of Jesus in our lives. We can’t pour water out of an empty pitcher, and we can’t pour living water into the lives around us out of an empty vessel. Life to the fullest comes from a life being continually filled by maintaining a daily relationship with Jesus.

If you have been knocked down by life, I encourage you to pick yourself up, reach out for help if you need to like I did, but live the life you were created to live. We have two choices when we have been blindsided: we can be overcome by our circumstances, or we can be overcomers in Christ! I encourage you to be an overcomer and to LIVE!