What to Do When You Feel Guilty for Being Okay

Feeling guilty for being okay when people around you aren't is more common than you'd think. Discover why you can stop apologizing for your stable life, and how God means for you to spend it on others.Sometimes the trouble is that your life is holding together while someone close to you is falling apart. Your marriage is solid and theirs is ending. Your kids are fine while someone else's are in crisis. Instead of being grateful, you feel almost ashamed of it. You hide the good news and downplay the vacation, because it feels cruel to be okay when someone you love is not. Somewhere in there, you start to believe you don't have permission to enjoy your own life while another person suffers.This episode opens with a woman named JoHannah, who had a good life and felt bad about it. Her family was close and her faith was intact, while all around her people faced chemo, divorce, and persecution overseas. She decided she had no business having things this good, so she tried to pay it back. She said yes to every request and made every need her own, running herself down until doing so much good left her going under.Scripture speaks straight to that guilt. Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 that God "comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God." Read the purpose in that verse. God comforts us so we can comfort others. The comfort is a supply, given to be passed on. Your stable marriage is a resource. The peace you have is something God is placing in your hands to hand to someone who has none right now.That reframes what being okay is for. You don't have to hide your blessing or burn it down out of guilt. You get to be grateful for it, and then spend it on people. The friend going through chemo needs you to come with your health and sit beside her. The woman whose marriage is ending needs the strength of yours to hold onto for an afternoon. Bart shares his own version of this guilt, driving home to a house that's still standing after praying with someone whose life is coming apart. JoHannah found her freedom the same way: she stopped trying to sacrifice her way out of a gift, received God's kindness, and finally had something to offer.BY THE TIME YOU FINISH LISTENING, YOU'LL DISCOVER:Why feeling guilty for being okay is common, and where that guilt comes fromWhat 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 says about comfort being a supply meant to be passed onA simple step for turning your stable life into help for someone who's hurtingYou don't have to apologize for being okay. Be grateful for what God has given you, then spend it on the person in front of you who needs it.Share This Episode:https://www.dailydevotionsforbusylives.com/312Need Prayer? Leave me a voicemail:https://www.dailydevotionsforbusylives.com/voicemailWant to keep these devotions coming? Please consider supporting this podcast.https://www.dailydevotionsforbusylives.com/support/Rate and Reviewhttps://www.dailydevotionsforbusylives.com/reviews/new/Connect with BartFacebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/dailydevotionsforbusylivesWebsite: https://www.dailydevotionsforbusylives.comFeeling spiritually drained? Start here. Download your free copy of my eBook Making Time for Jesus here: https://www.dailydevotionsforbusylives.com/subscribe.