I feel like God is everywhere these days....and then at the same time I wonder where He is. He's here with me, I know that. He's with you too. I've been talking to God a lot lately about things. Why hearts have to hurt. Why children are sick. Why people lose jobs and relationships. Why....just why.
A friend of mine from waaaaayyyy back (he was actually a buddy of my older brothers when I was little) has a son with cancer in his leg. What is the purpose of THAT? My church is going through tough times. Two beloved pastors let go yesterday. Really? PASTORS out of jobs? What is the purpose of THAT? A friend who happens to be a recovering gambler may have gotten back into his addiction and just may be doing some bad things to feed his habit. Why? Why when someone has come so far would they slip back? I have about 10 other examples of things happening, but you get what I'm saying.
I have no answers....only more questions. God doesn't say much to me about it when I ask other than to just be faithful and patient. He has it all worked out.
This morning I got up early. On a normal morning my alarm goes off at 5:45 a.m., then I snooze it until 6:25 and frantically run around trying to get out of the house. Nuts, I know. But today, I woke up at 5:15 a.m. Sat right up. Started praying for many things including the above and God sent me to the book of Jeremiah.....29:11-13 to be exact.
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans for good and not disaster, plans to give you a future and a hope....when you pray I will listen. If you look for Me wholeheartedly, you will find Me."
There it is. The Answer. To why we hurt, why we have pain and sickness. Why we lose our jobs and struggle with addiction. BECAUSE GOD HAS A PLAN. This is His deal, His world, His to handle, not mine.
Now I don't know about you, but when I first accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior, I thought everything would be easier. Ha. Life really hasn't been any easier....BUT....it has gotten easier to be ME. To know who I am and why I'm here, why God created me....I could only do that with God's help.
I don't know why all these bad things happen. I don't know why life is the pits sometimes. I do know that through it all we can still LOVE, and LAUGH, and BE FILLED WITH JOY. I do know that through the yuckiness of life there are so many things to be thankful for. The laughter of a child. The love of your life kissing your back. The hands that we get to hold. The tears that we wipe away.
All of this makes the yuckiness bearable.
And that, my friend, is God's plan too.
JC is my BFF.....
7 comments:
This is my theory. God loves those whom he chastens. We our clay in the Master's hands. This is the refining process. Will we be diligent? Will we be every faithful? God knows the answers to these questions front and back. Do we know? This is our test. He knows the answers. We guess what we my do, but until you walk through the fire of affliction, you will never know who you really are and how deep your devotion is. Bonus round, if we prove faithful, we draw closer to Him. If we look at every detriment with an eye of faith, the understanding comes eventually. Sometimes years later, the beauty lies in the ride and the peace that comes no matter what happens. Which is why when you decide to follow Him, it guarantees heartache, disappointment, ect. If the Savior suffered every pain, temptation, even that any of us would have died, doesn't it make perfect sense that if we are to become like Him and gain perspective and understanding we have to trudge some of the same things according to our ability to withstand? I love you!
And I love you, Ms. Lady. :) Great thoughts, great wisdom. You are right on all counts. THANK YOU for sharing your wisdom.
I once read on a blog somewhere (if this is yours, please claim it!) that God whispers so softly only to draw us closer. His whisper is that soft so that we are forced to lean into Him in order to hear it. If He spoke loud and clear all the time we wouldn't be as close to Him. I LOVE THAT and it is soooo true.
You rock, sista.
There truly is a lot of yuckiness in this life, isn't there? Some we do on our own, some we have no part in.
But if we know that God has a purpose to our yuckiness, if we can trust Him with that, then not only will we be able to endure, we'll be able to laugh along the way.
Great, great post.
Wow, Becki, you really should be posting this kind of stuff on The Christian Woman. I miss your posts there! I'll have to just start coming to your blog! This is a tough time, isn't it? But that's what settles me, and calms my heart: that God is ever and always in control. He has a plan.
Love,
Gwenn
Becki,
I just tried to leave a comment, and it took it away! Anyway, I love this blog entry. I have missed you on The Christian Woman, but I'll just have to start visiting your blog, because you have some awesome things to say! I know how you feel about all the scary stuff that is happening around us. Every day, I have a few moments of panic when I wake up, but then I remember, GOD IS IN CONTROL AND HAS A PLAN. And then I'm calm.
Love you!
Gwenn
And in the darkest of times, God is the light leading us out and onto the safety of the shore where He is waiting to take our hand and lead us to a place that is better than our hearts could ever know. God's plan...it is so evident in my life. I am glad it is entering yours.
Great words, and great thoughts. You really nailed this post. Excellent work!
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