Stop Accepting Poop

And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you. (Psalm 9:10)

I hate it when people say, “The world is aligned against me.” Some people indeed struggle with more than their share of challenges. However, it is not true that God or the universe is somehow out to get them. In a world with free will, poop happens, and that is not fair. The only way to expect fairness is to give up our free will and allow God to control everyone’s existence, including nature. If that were the case, we would scream “foul” and demand God cut our puppet strings.

Since we live in an unfair world, we must face the challenge of addressing our self-determination daily. In his article, “Carl Jung-You are Not What Happened to You,” Thomas Oppong states, “In psychology, learned helplessness is a common affliction that we all experience occasionally. It refers to the inability to take control over external events and a tendency to accept one’s fate as inevitable.” The learned helplessness mindset subjects us to giving up or negating control over our lives when a painful moment occurs.

We should face our human inclination for learned helplessness head-on. When we focus on what we can control, without assigning blame to God, the devil, or the cosmos, we can make the best of a difficult situation and come away healed and restored. Yet, facing perceived helplessness is profoundly challenging. Carl Jung states, “The most terrifying thing is to accept oneself completely. Your visions will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.” Therefore, we must wake up, address life’s challenges with determination, and trust God to guide us through and forward.

What should define us is not the hardships we’ve endured, but how we’ve shown courage and faith in responding with resilience and trust in God’s care. The way to live faithfully amid hardship is by accepting that poop will happen but trusting that between your courage and God’s guidance, you will endure, recover, and become stronger. Stand tall in the moments of greatest tribulation; you are not alone in suffering. Retain your faith because God is the one you need to lean on. When you do, those you love will learn how to face their struggles through your example, faith, and determination.