Sometimes, things don’t work out as you hoped.

I was blessed with grown-ups in my life who told me this when I was a kid. It’s the reason I am not reduced to a shimmering pile of feelings when I don’t get my way. It’s the reason I function normally when a Democrat holds the office of President. It’s the reason I still believe in God despite alleged Christians treating me horribly.

You weren’t raised with the truth that life is sometimes (perhaps even often) disappointing. You were taught to believe your whims ought to affect reality. You sincerely think it matters when you’re offended.

It doesn’t.

Your hurt feelings and offended sensibilities don’t matter. Whining, crying, and making angry Tik-Tok videos changes nothing. You might as well hold your breath and stomp your feet. Rumbling about what you think is unjust brings about zero justice. You don’t get to pick your gender. Men can’t get pregnant. You don’t deserve to get paid for not working. You don’t deserve special treatment because of your skin color. Abortion is murder. And the outrage you’re feeling about these truths is irrelevant.

Desperately wanting things to be different doesn’t make you a good person. It makes you a child. And every child needs to be told: Sometimes things don’t work out as you hope.

(Psalm 135:6) “The Lord does whatever pleases him, in the heavens and on the earth, in the seas and all their depths. He makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth; he sends lightning with the rain and brings out the wind from his storehouses.”