God, What In The World Is That About? An Interview With Robbie Seay

YW: Robbie, what does it look like for you to cling to God when tough stuff’s going on?

We basically have two choices when life gets ugly. One, we can run to God and trust Him. We don’t blame Him; instead we seek Him and long to be comforted by Him. Our other choice is to run the other way.

That’s a tough choice. We’ve had a few friends in the last year and a half who’ve passed away. One of them was very young and passed away in front of 500-600 of his closest friends at his church. While that was going on my heart was crying out: “God, what in the world is that about?” So I took that pain and questioning to God.

I’ve learned that it’s completely all right for us to approach God with some very humble doubts and fears. The book of Job records that Job voiced his fears to God, but he continued to trust. He was humbly honest, and God later referred to Job as His friend. Job is just one big lesson that no matter how crazy life gets we should trust in God.

I’ve learned that God is loving—so I don’t have to hide the hard stuff. He is the only comfort I’ve got, and if I shun Him or push Him away during hard times, I don’t have much to lean on. So I’m striving to just be honest with Him and trust Him.

YW: Is there anything else you learned during your times of struggle about how to handle hard times?

When things get a little rocky in life, I tend to withdraw from people. I learned that’s not necessarily a great thing, because when that happens I get the idea that I’m the only one struggling. I think, “I’m the only one in this place here.” Even though that’s just not true.

What I’ve tried to do now when things begin to go south is intentionally lean on my group of friends who love me. It’s pretty clear in Scripture that God calls us to be in a community, to love one another, and to surround each other in love and support. When I seek out the help of other people it changes the way I look at myself, and it changes the way I look at God. I see people’s support of me, so then it’s easier to see God’s love for me. It’s my hope that all of us can push back on our instinct and surround ourselves with love and seek God together.

Jen and I are learning what it's like to be in a community of love, to be surrounded in love and support. And it's come from places we never expected - proof, to us, that it's from God. One person who has stepped up to be part of the community is Robbie Seay.

I don't care if you don't think much of Robbie or Christian music or Christians . Come on July 8th and meet the community. Brookfield Lutheran Church, 7:00 PM Tickets available online SOON.

(for the rest of this interview, click here)