We all hear that phrase regularly and probably have said it more than once, I have for sure.  Quite some time ago I noticed a reaction in the inside of me to that phrase that puzzled me.  It was like fingers on a chalkboard reaction and made me uncomfortable. So I just begin to think about …it is what it is.  I began to understand some interesting things about that thought and attitude. It is the verbalization of helplessness.  Something has happened that I can’t do anything about.  Then again no one can do anything about it as well.  It is the voice of hopelessness. It says what happened has the last word, it is a dead end street with no turn around. 

As I pondered this simple little phrase I felt like the Lord said to me…where am I in those words of… it is what it is.  The Bible tells us He is our very present HELP in times of trouble.  He is the God of all HOPE.  He is the GOD of the impossible.  He makes a WAY where there is no way. By partnering with those words we leave God out of the equation.  Words are spiritual and powerful, they affect us, the people around us and the very atmosphere.  

But don’t things happen that we nor anyone else can change?  Yes.  But our response can change and affect us, others and the atmosphere.  God moves as we believe Him in helpless and hopeless situations. Even when things happen that are final, change can happen that brings help and hope out of loss.  

When John the Baptist was beheaded Jesus got alone and came out of that place healing people.  Out of loss came help for many.  When Jesus was crucified it appeared it was over but out of apparent hopelessness came the greatest hope that has ever been or ever will be.

What about our lives?  One of the greatest examples in my life was watching my mother after Daddy went to heaven.  Mother was broken and I just wondered if she could withstand this loss.  She was a strong person but this seemed almost unbearable.  Then after a period of time I saw a shift in her. She began to take steps, one at a time but steps.  She said to me if I am the one still here I must have a purpose. She began reaching out to others to go to lunch, checking on sick people, teaching piano lessons and as always invested herself in her family. In the finality on earth of that loss she began to respond and help, hope and life.

To me the answer for …it is what it is….is found in my response not to the situation but to Father God.  At every dead end He IS.