It Is What It Is

I've been hearing this phrase a lot these days. Whether it reverberates around the economy, the election, or the church...more than once I have heard..."well, it is what it is."

A little research finds that the phrase originated with professional athletes...(of course) as they avoided committing to any kind of statement that might come back to haunt them..

The online Urban Dictionary defines the phrase as follows:
A) A phrase that seems to simply state the obvious but actually implies helplessness.
B) A phrase that seems to simply state the obvious but actually means "it will be what it is," as in "it ain't gonna change, so deal with it or don't."

The more I have heard the phrase, the more I think it implies some kind of apathy, and certainly helplessness...it is what it is and I can't do anything about it. Now when you are a professional football player and the team has just lost and you played your best game...it is what it is - a loss. But when talking about the church, or your family situation, or the community in which you live...any where that you have a voice and some part of the outcome - it is what it is, gives up too soon.

"It is what it is", makes me think of "I am who I am;" another phrase that leads us to scratch our heads a bit and we know Moses did too...but there is much more power in I am who I am than in it is what it is. Hear these words from Max Lucado The Applause of Heaven.

Consider the rod of Moses. By this time in his life, Moses had been a shepherd as long as he had been a prince, and he'd grown accustomed to it. Herding sheep wasn't as lively as living with Egyptian Royalty, but it had its moments, especially the moment God spoke to him through a burning bush that didn't burn up. God announced that Moses was his man to deliver the Israelites. Moses wasn't convinced he was the one for the job. God said that who Moses was didn't matter; what mattered was who God was. And God set out to demonstrate.

"Moses" spoke the voice from the bush, "throw down your staff."

Moses, who had walked this mountain for forty years, was not comfortable with the command.

"God, you now a lot about a lot of things, but you may not know that out here, well you just don't go around throwing down your staff. you never know when..."

"Throw it down, Moses"

Moses threw it down, the rod became a snake and Moses began to run.

"Moses!"

The old shepherd stopped.

"Pick up the snake."

Moses peered over his shoulder, first at the snake and then the bush, and then he gave the most courageous response he could muster.

"What?"

"Pick up the snake...by the tail." (God had to be smiling at this point.)

"God, I don't mean to object, I mean, you now a lot of things, but out here in the desert, well you don't pick up snakes too often, and you never pick up snakes by the tail."

"Moses!"

"Yessir."

Just as Moses' hand touched the squirmy scales of the snake, it hardened. And Moses lifted up the rod. The same rod he would lift up in Pharaoh's court. The same rod he would lift up to divide the water and guide two million people through a desert. The rod that would remind Moses that if God can make a stick become a snake, then become a stick again - then perhaps he can do something with stubborn hearts and a stiff-necked people.

Perhaps he can do something with all of us.

The next time we are tempted to utter "it is what it is" remember God hears our needs and answers prayers in the manner that will help us, serve his will and often surprise us.

Trust God in prayer to do what needs to be done to make what it is what God wants it to be and not what we keep it from being....Amen