Christians say the funniest things.

Well, it isn’t so much that the things we say are funny, it’s that we say them so much they begin to sound funny.

Like when you say “Little Italy” seven times really fast. Go ahead. Say it. Out loud.

Just because “Little Italy” sounds funny when you say it over and over doesn’t mean Little Italy isn’t real. Here are five trite phrases that are truth:

1. If God brought you to it, He’ll bring you through it.

It sounds kinda silly. Maybe because it’s a really lame rhyme. I mean, anyone can rhyme “it” with “it.”

But it’s true. If you are attempting something God has called you to, He will equip you. (In Exodus 4, there is a great example of God equipping Moses, who said he is just not a good talker!)

2. You can’t take it with you.

Typically this is said when someone is trying to downplay gain…or loss. How weird is that?

But it’s true. When my husband was alive, it wasn’t until he was very sick and on Hospice that I sensed this clicked with him. He was no longer concerned things that had consumed him just six months before. (1 Timothy 6 talks about how money/things can cause some big issues, and we came into this world with nothing, and…will leave with nothing.)

3. Withholding forgiveness is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die.

This is truer than we even realize. It’s just a little cringy. Because I don’t know about you, but I can’t relate. Outside of a couple Diet Coke’s in my 20s, I’ve not ever consumed poison. But, not only does not forgiving someone else make us feel we’ve eaten nothing but gummy bears and Diet Coke for a year, we’re actually commanded to forgive.

Forgive.

(Verses in Ephesians 4, Colossians 3, Matthew 6 all talk about forgiving and being compassionate toward one another, relative to how God has done that for US.)

4. Worry is like paying interest on a debt you may never owe.

Think back to something you were worried about one year ago. Social media “one year ago” reminders are really good for jarring our memories. Chances are, the thing you were worried about didn’t happen. But you worried about it.

If you can’t think of anything, try to recall “Y2K,” or look that up.

5. Let go, and let God.

You just rolled your eyes. This is something your Gramma has probably said to you.

Well, your Gramma is right.

A friend once told me that I needed to open my clinched fists and face them upward. Because something amazing happens when I surrender, and just ask God how HE is going to write the next paragraph:

My hands are open to receive the plan of a God who DOES see the big picture I cannot see. And by the way, He is a God who LOVES you like crazy. His plan is to offer you “hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29:11)

I sometimes think I can mess up God’s plan, even after I’ve surrendered a situation to Him. I can’t. Consider Sarah, wife of Abraham. She wanted to have a child, and even when God promised her she’d have a baby despite her age, she considered how she might take control and make that happen. Her way.

That got messy.

But despite that, God came through on His promise, and she gave birth to a child of her own. (This dramatic story, Genesis 21)

I guess you could say God turns our mess into a message…a test into a testimony.

But I won’t say that.