Imagine if every time you hit a hard time, you had a friend a step ahead of you. Your car broke down? They were already waiting on-location with the jack. Your mom was in the hospital? Upon your arrival, they stood at the hospital room door with soup. Your landlord just kicked you out of your house? They beat his call by 5 minutes to invite you to stay with them.
You may think one of three things:
This person is the rock-star of all friends.
You can’t live without them.
Only God could do this sort of thing.
On all three counts, you’d be right.
Sadly, there is no person like this. But there’s a God just this way: Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear. Is. 65:24
God isn’t just in step with our needs, he’s one step ahead.
We call, he’s already answering. We speak, he’s already working. What we can’t voice, he’s addressing.
What we’ve been afraid to ask for, he’s hearing.
In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness.
We do not know what we ought to pray for,
but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. Ro. 8:26
God doesn’t just hear our prayers, he preemptively steps in front of them. Like a good basketball player, he anticipates where we’re headed and beats us there. The only difference is, rather than blocking us, he gets there to lift us up. He gets there to help us score our goal. God improves our shot.
Have you been negating the love of God, the power of prayer or the worth of praise?
Often, we don’t say thank you for what we can’t see. We don’t say thank you for the disastrous saves never knew. We don’t say thank you for the trials God averted. We don’t say thank you for the small blessings we thought were our work.
Maybe today is the day we do.
Thank you, God, for all you do. You do more than meets the eye. You are working for us, helping us, and freeing us. Thank you that you are leaning into our problems and calling out on behalf of our weakness. Thank you that your all-consuming power is behind us and pushing for our best outcome. Amen.
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I can’t get things straight with this person. I seem to bother them. I seem to aggravate them. I seem to be a burden on their life.
She who feelscondemns – condemns.
Have I been condemning?
The thought pressed closer to my chest, piercing my heart. Does their lack of approval regarding me, act like a boomerang, and move right back on them?
They seem irritated, so I get irritated because they are irritated and we stand at an impasse. They snap at me, later, I fear they’ll do it again, so I use a harsh voice. They don’t listen. I come down hard and demand to be heard.
Anger at myself settles. Once again, I’m the problem. I hate that feeling and its abysmal return.
She who is beating herself up can’t heal another one up.
More anger at myself settles in.
She who is not freed by grace can’t free others by grace.
More anger at myself settles in, except with it also comes the thought that if I really want progress, I really need to accept grace. Not just accept it in a way where I wear it on the outside, but instead, wear it, internally, like a stint that keeps the oxygen of my life flowing. One that keeps my heart beating and moving in ways that are transformational and life-giving to be both me and others.
Therefore let us [with privilege] approach the throne of grace [that is, the throne of God’s gracious favor] with confidence and without fear, so that we may receive mercy [for our failures] and find [His amazing] grace to help in time of need [an appropriate blessing, coming just at the right moment]. (Heb. 4:16 AMP)
I am welcome to walk right up to God’s grace; I can approach the throne of grace with all confidence and no fear. When I walk up to it, I need not think, I will be turned away, but I may just know mercy will be mine. It will be mine for every failure and it will work for me in my time of need. It will be an “appropriate blessing, coming at just the right moment.” I like this.
With this, I may approach this person differently.
Grace lets me move forward with imperfections and with room for my mistakes, faults and failures in Christ Jesus.
God’s love removes my need for a defensive spirit.
God’s mercy covers my guilt with new life.
God’s forgiveness is not something I should feel shame for receiving.
I am being developed into this likeness of Jesus and this takes time.
What might grace, seized with confidence and no fear,
look like in your life?
What form might God’s – “appropriate” and timely blessings –
take as you make space for them?
My heart is called today to be a grace-getter. Do you know what a grace-getter looks like?
It looks like a person who shoves fear down a ditch, then runs up to the foot of the cross. She waves her arms and says, “Hey God, over here. My ways aren’t working so well, God. I need you to relieve me of my pain.”
She who gets grace – gives grace.
She knows, in her time of need, God has things covered and the blood of Jesus is just enough.
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To say that the last few months have been tough is an understatement. I live in Baton Rouge. In August, my city was devastated by a severe, historical flood. Hundreds of thousands of people have lost EVERYTHING they own…homes, cars, jobs and possessions. I, unfortunately, am one of those people. I’ve lost much of my furniture and my vehicle. Now, I am trying to figure out how to maneuver a move to a new home. I am BEYOND overwhelmed and BEYOND tired!
Some of the most arduous seasons in my life have caught me completely off guard. And boy, did this one!
I know that I can trust God, but sometimes I struggle with fully grasping why a reprieve doesn’t come. However, God, in His infinite wisdom had already been speaking some truths into my life that would prepare me for this time.
I tweeted this a while back during another difficult season…
1.) God’s ways are higher.
2.) The joy of the Lord is my strength.
3.) God is good and does good.
A fourth truth did occur to me but this was all that I could fit in 140 characters. Nevertheless, God in His faithfulness used my friend Krissy who replied to my tweet with…
4.) And He loves you deeply.
It was the EXACT thought that had crossed my mind but was unable to include in my tweet. God solidified some parts of His character through her response. He showed me that He cares about the details of my life and is always at work.
God’s Ways Are Higher
Isaiah 55:9 says, “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
As much as we think we know what is best for our lives, God knows infinitely more. My best plan pales in comparison to His plan. My job is to trust Him. He knows the end from the beginning. He knows precisely what needs to or does not need to happen in order to bring us into the destiny that He has planned for us.
The Joy of the Lord is My Strength
In Nehemiah 8:10b, he tells us, “Do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”There are hardly enough words to express how much I need to know this. God’s joy is my strength. I don’t have to try to manufacture joy on my own. I just need to grab hold of who He is and what He has. His promises are for me.
God is Good and Does Good
The first half of Psalm 119:68 gets right to the point and tells us that God is good and does good. That is who He is. He cannot be anything other than good. I absolutely LOVE that, because out of His goodness, He does good things. In good times and in bad times, He does good things. We may not always see the good or think what He is doing is good, but it is. He causes all things to work for our good and for His glory.
He Loves Me Deeply
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” John 3:16
We have all heard this verse a number of times. It is the very foundation of our faith. How can God possibly love us this much? I don’t have the answer. I just know that He does and I am so incredibly grateful! How could I not be? How could we not be?
I want to live in such a way that it is a response to His love. That means that I need to view every circumstance through eyes of faith. I need to trust in His ways, let His joy be my strength, believe that He is good and that He loves me deeply.
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The boy stood there. Between him and the time of his life – was glass.
To move on to new adventure, he had to let go of reservations and fears and find a way around what stopped him. He had to submit to Father’s way, so he could find his way.
Often we get stopped. All the same, we peer out, uncertain about how to proceed, how to claim joy. We see the barrier – our fears, rejections and worries.
God doesn’t see barriers. God sees perfectly. He sees us. He sees our way. It’s crystal clear.
What is holding you back? Stop, and really consider this. It could make all the difference to your life.
Are you proceeding with the God
who removes barriers?
Or are you proceeding straight into a glass window
that gets you nowhere?
Here’s a quick test to tell…
Do you think:
With God, all things are possible. He will do what he will do, but no matter what he will get me through.OR
I’ve got to make a way or I’ll be left and standing here watching my dream take-off. I’ll be forgotten and worried and never to be loved.
We need add nothing to the perfect work of God.
Have you been adding stuff?
Stress? Anxiety? Plans? Opinions? A controlling spirit? Doubt?
I consider myself a know-it-all on this subject matter, for good reason, I bang my head on the window of my own self-preservation, self-seeking and self-righteousness all the time. But, here’s the kicker – when I do, when I actually turn around to find him – He is there. And, I find joy.
Mercy abounding, he waits. Love untainted, he restores his daughter. Grace unfolding, I access new hope.
He gives me a one-way ticket to new adventure and calling in Him, when I finally “re-turn.”
Do you feel too far gone – to get back?
Let me remind you of something important: the perfect Savior saves the imperfect people. This is the bottom line of the gospel. That’s me! That’s you!
Even more, the perfect savior empowers imperfect people. Imagine that!
That’s me! That’s you!
All that is required is, us, simple folk, like lost prodigal children, just “re-turn.” No shame about this friends, every disciple had to do it.
Will you?
God breaks the glass standing between us
and Him when we let him.
The weary get rest.
The tired get blessed.
Anxieties are less.
There is clarity to see.
Where we believe we could never go, God takes us. It isn’t by our efforts, for there was no way we could climb over the issues ourselves, but – with God – he can do it.
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The girl was acting bad in church. I couldn’t help but notice her. She jumped around, like a pent up puppy, giving no attention to the pastor. I apparently was acting bad too because I kept on watching her. She was cute. She didn’t much care for brother though, and with this, Mother shoved her over towards daddy…
To give you some background, I’ve felt unsettled lately. Unsettled in my mothering that seems a bit too intense. Unsettled in this adventure called book and how God will use it. Unsettled by people who have let me down. It feels like a bad cough. These feelings of insecurity rise up as a hinderance to faith. I feel it coming, I hate it too. Yet, I know there’s a cure.
Daddy picked her up and held her. Immediately her head rested on daddy’s shoulder. She looked to the side in a daze. Instantly, her arms that wrapped around him fell. Daughter relaxed. She became a wet noodle fresh out of a massage – all aggression, agitation and irritation vanished in the arms of her Father.
I watched closely. It was interesting. Nothing had really changed. She was still in the same place. She was still just as bored. She was still the sister of the brother that drove her nuts. She was still very much in the same problem she was 2 minutes ago, but actually, everything did change.
She was in daddy’s arms.
Her eyes closed.
She was nearly falling asleep.
Simply because she knew she was safe.
Loved. Cared for. Adored.
Do you know this?
You can relax. What is bothersome, burdensome and back-breaking is soothed by the power of love. It is love that pulls you close. It is love that holds you with arms of protection and dedication. It is love that will never break or fall or grow weary of your bad antics.
Perhaps you need to know today you can fall into the arms of a daddy that will not hurt you. You don’t have to resign yourself, any longer, outside of his arms because you are on the blacklist or because you are a bad church-goer. You don’t have to keep him at an arms-length because you are the the ugly step-child or because you are a failure.
Daddy’s pick up daughters. It is as simple as that.
In this place, there is no worry of what annoyances are around.
There is no focus on things that are about to ruin you.
There is no attention to the ways you’re life is breaking apart.
There is just – Him.
You.
Covered in affection.
Filled with security.
Embraced without requirements.
I will strengthen you and help you;
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Is. 41:10
Have you trusted daddy to uphold you in his arms?
The cure to worry, insecurity and the silent jury in your mind, is getting unhurried as you lay in the arms of God.
I know this to be true. Me – the most unsettled of all unsettled people, finds refreshment in the deep-reaching arms of the father.
Daily, I fall there and fail there and it is okay. He accepts me. He accepts you to – in such a powerful way, you can let go of everything and just rest, body fully relaxed, in the arms of his love.
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I hung this up in my house. It represented Fall and a call to believe God. I liked it.
Until the door got shut too hard. Belief fell.
Doors get shut, faith falls. Ever noticed? Opportunities dissolve – it appears God won’t solve anything. People hurt – it feels God doesn’t care. Sicknesses, emotions and accidents happen – all of a sudden, you can’t figure out what happened to God and you’ve gotta do things on your own.
The door that slammed into you broke God’s goodness.
Has this happened to you?
Maybe it is hard to see, feel or walk by the great things God has planned for you?
To walk, by faith, is to walk by God’s sight, in his full might.
To walk, not by faith, is to walk with no might, relying on your demise in sight.
When we walk aimlessly between these two, we walk crippled. We blindly stumble over Jesus’ victory – we fall into victimhood. We lay there looking around and all of a sudden the clear paths God set before us – the words of encouragement, the praise or the worship we wanted to sing – rings hallow. Then, we get angry at God.
I’ve been fighting to keep my heart above ground.
I want to keep that cross of belief hung high, even when the assaults of the world feel like low blows. And, I’ve been assaulted alright. People I trusted, didn’t come through for me. The hope I had, now appears unpromising. My health, is on round 3 of colds. My mind has been fighting and fighting and fighting. That cross, has fallen, friends, it has fallen.
But, I am picking it back up. Like Jesus did.He never let it stay on the ground…
I am putting it back upon my shoulders and looking ahead to the prize that awaits at the end of faithful days.
Will you pick it back up again?
Don’t let it sit there, on the ground. Doors don’t define you, Jesus does. Pick up the cross of faith and carry on, even if every step feels like you are going to fall, be laughed at or injured. Keep going. Hold on to the vision of hope, the belief that God is working out goodness and the knowledge he is helping you.
Don’t let shame hold you back again, either. You doubted for a moment. So what? That was then, this is now. God shuts the door on all revenge, anger and retribution when you ask for forgiveness.
Rush over to the cross, see new faith and hang it high again. Let his love rush in.
Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? (Ro. 8:35)
Nothing. No discouragement, despair, demotivation, denial, depression, dejection, darkness or defiance can keep you from his love.
No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. (Ro. 8:36)
The victor is risen.
The fight is won.
Our destiny is secure.
No trip, trial or trap will stop it.
We keep our eyes set on destination.
Carry that cross on.
And believe by faith,
in the greatness God has in store for you.
KNOW and speak within yourself: “Nothing can ever separate (me) from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate (me) from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate (me) from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Ro. 8:38-39)
Together, we walk – united. Christ as the anchor to the faith upon which we stand. In him, there is no trial or tribulation that can knock us to the floor.
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I saw the truck driver out of the side of my eye from the sidewalk. He was unloading boxes. I shot him a side-smile, halfway knowing he’d get a kick watching me position my kids just right. It was going to be the Fall picture of all Fall pictures, mostly because the backdrop looked autumn-genius – pumpkins, mums and hay looked like artwork. C’mon, this was it! I balked at the beauty. Truck-man didn’t smile back; he just glared.
So, when he approached me, I got scared.
“Do you want to be in the picture with the kids?”
I sized him up all wrong.
You can’t measure a heart in a split-second.
Here he was: a good man breaking out of his timeline of delivering food to deliver us the perfect picture. I appreciated it. Did he know how badly I wanted things to feel perfect? How I wanted my kids to experience the warmth of this season? How I wanted them to see the colors and value in change? How I wanted to know – and remember – I was a good mother?
This picture, I imagined, would be the ones the kids gathered around. It was going to be me- looking cute and them – looking happy. It was going to be me – bringing them places they would love. It was going to be them – full of joy.
No one was going to forget it. Pictures are memorials of good times. And, random picture-takers are angels.
I shoved daughter up on the hay. She hated it. I pushed her up on a pumpkin. She toddler-cursed the seat. No matter where this angel-trucker stood – left, right, center – I sighed, there was just no money shot. Daughter was done with it. So was I.
Why is it whenever I try to orchestrate good, it goes bad?
And, why do good acts of service so often fail?
Not only did I feel let down, but I felt like I wasted someone else’s time. I burdened him for nothing. Guilt arrived.
What is your dream shot? Maybe it looks entirely different than expected?
Maybe you look odd? Less than? Or, maybe you feel guilty for wasting people’s time?
Embarrassed? Or, scared, even?
Sometimes, things just pan out – weird, ugly and wrong. And, what you’re left with are images blurred, skewed or haphazard. Ones that catch you with your eyes closed or with a double chin. They show the hatable things.
…The LORD does not look at the things people look at… (1 Sam. 16:7)
What we look at worthless, God calls worthy…
Our picture is earthly, but God’s is eternal. So, while we see a snip-it, God sees more. He sees past the clothes, the facades and the faces, straight to the heart. He sees all the images lined up, like framed pictures on a wall going up the stairs. He sees our growth, our progress and our love expanding. The pictures please him.
We can’t always see from his view. That’s our real problem…
We don’t see much. We see the here, the now, the tears and the Pumpkin-fits. God sees the gallery in the Museum of his Faithfulness. He sees how the image of mourning gives way to joy 3 steps ahead. He sees how the grief gives way to gladness a couple feet beyond. He sees how mayhem will work itself into peace when his love develops.
You have turned for me my mourning into dancing;
You have loosed my sackcloth and girded me with gladness... Ps. 30:11
Today, I am encouraged to know beyond the externals, God cares far more about the picture of the internals.
I am encouraged to remember there is a vision to the pictures of my life.
I am encouraged to focus my lens on eternity.
With the filter of eternity, in this picture I see:
We are all fighting to find our seat in life. Sometimes we just need another to come behind us to say it is okay to not know because God does.
There is no perfect picture unless you zoom in on Jesus.
What appears like a bad shot will be glorious, tomorrow.
And, with this, I smile and know – that picture I took? It is a memorial. It’s a marker of imperfection, an image of my growth and a pointer to the glory that awaits. I’ll hold it close and look back on it fondly.
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I am delighted to welcome Dr. Stacy Haynes from Gloucester County Community Church to this Women’s Ministry Monday guest post series. Her words bring life and encouragement to my heart.
Post by: Dr. Stacy Haynes
Sometimes as a wife and a mother, I reflect too much on the mistakes I have made in my past. I think about the days when maybe I am not as nice as I should be to my husband or I respond to my children in a short tone.
There are moments that I feel guilty about, as a mother and wife. Then God reminds me of many examples of women in the Bible and the past mistakes they had made in their walk with the Lord.
We can easily think of Eve, why the first woman in the Bible who made a pretty huge mistake because of sin and temptation. And yet she goes on to be the mother of all living things and raises her children to love and worship the Lord.
One woman stands out to me, as her past created her future. Rahab the harlot as the Bible calls her was not aware how two spies would change her past and bless her future.
Joshua 2 tells us the story of how Rahab hid the spies, made them promise to save her and her family and she vowed to profess her faith.
She believed in God despite her circumstances.
Rahab- whose first part of her name Ra- the name of an eyptian God, was a pagan. She was not a believer and yet she is proclaiming here her faith to these spies.
Rahab was not concerned about her past and what things look like. Sure she was not worthy to house these spies- but she believed.
Proverbs 8:17 I love those who love me, and those who seek me find me.
I remind myself that circumstances sometimes are not the best and behavior may not always be Christlike in the moment, but God has chosen me to be a mother and a wife in this season for His glory.
She trusted in the promises of God.
The Bible has a Hall of Faithers list if you will and Rahab is listed in the Bible Hall of Faith in Hebrews- with folks like Abraham, Moses, Joseph, and David.
Hebrews 11:31 By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.
A prostitute was spared, and did not die with those who were disobedient.
God can forgive my past and give me a future. God is not sitting up in Heaven, counting our mistakes as mothers. He asks us to trust Him, to confess our faith and ask for forgiveness when we sin.
She brought others to salvation.
One thing I love about Rahab – she immediately became a disciple and brought others to the Lord. And yet God saved her and her family. All because of Rahab.
A woman who decided her past would not determine her destiny.
A woman who decided her life was worth giving up for God.
A woman who will always be remembered in the family lineage of Jesus Christ himself.
A woman who made mistakes, and lived to tell about it.
As the story goes, one of those spies, Salmon- decided he loved Rahab and married her. She became the mother of Boaz, who married Ruth from whose son, Obed, Jesse the father of David came.
Salmon was a prince of the house of Judah, and thus Rahab, the prostitute became a princess.
You see in those moments when I doubt my imperfections, my mistakes as a mom and a wife I am reminded of how good God’s grace and mercy is. I am reminded that God loves us, He created us and He has forgiven us.
I am reminded of the lessons that can be learned when we go through trials and the patience that God is building in my character with each new experience.
Jesus healed a man demon possessed in Mark 5. And when the man wanted to travel with Jesus, Jesus replied, “Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” (Mark 5:19)
You see I am able to share my faith through my mistakes with others. My life is not a story of perfection, it is a story of Great God whose grace and forgiveness allows me to serve Him each and every day.
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About Dr. Haynes
STACY HAYNES, Ed. D, LPC, ACS, is the Chief Executive Officer of Little Hands Family Services, LLC. located at the Washington Professional Campus in Turnersville, New Jersey. Stacy is a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor and an experienced therapist, teacher, and counselor with over fifteen years in the mental health field.
Dr. Stacy Haynes is a specialist in the treatment of behavioral and emotional disturbance of children, adults and families. Stacy uses evidenced based practices in working with children and families to help strengthen children and families. Stacy has lectured on topics including ADHD, Oppositional Defiant Disorder, Effective Classroom Management Skills, Anger Management and Conduct Disorders and is also an Adjunct Professor teaching graduate and undergraduate courses in Child Psychology, Intro to Counseling, Abnormal Psychology and other Human Services courses.
Dr. Haynes received her Bachelors Degree from Liberty University, her Masters Degree from Bowie State University and her Doctorate in Education with a concentration in Counseling Psychology and a specialization in Clinical Supervision and Teaching in Higher Education from Argosy University. Dr. Stacy Haynes is a clinically licensed professional counselor in Maryland, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.17
If the man sweat, I’m convinced, it would’ve come out as iron. He was strong! No doubt, he was military. I tried to keep my eyes straight, but to no avail, they wandered like a girl cheating on her 11th-grade chemistry test. I didn’t want to get caught – pastor was going strong. Still, how the man rubbed tenderly and passionately his bracelet, over and over, round and round – it meant something. I needed to know what. The sermon, this day, was all about him.
I squinted and spotted a location and a date. Aha! I figured it out. They are winning moments. Times, people, places that were special, meaningful or momentous.
As his fingers moved, did his mind also, going back to the memory of what happened?
A place where he joined hands with a fellow warrior and pressed on?
A time when his courage nearly beat out of his chest – and he conquered all?
A lesson of bravery, learned through trial, never to be forgotten?
How sweet! “Hold on to that fella,” I wanted to say, “that’s what moments are made of.”
If I could’ve whispered it without being rude and out-of-place, friends, I might have.
The paint was chipping, kneaded raw, but clear as day I spotted three letters: KIA.
At first, I thought of the car brand – KIA. Then, I the reality appeared:
KIA. Killed. In. Action.
My eyes widened.
Killed. in. action.
My back sank down the chair.
Killed. in. action.
My heart moved with it.
Someone willing to pay the ultimate price for freedom.
This man? He knew: You hold on to one you love. You knead into the fact they gave up their needs and wants, so you could have yours. You absorb the price of their sacrifice.
The man next to me did just that. He remembered…
Him, a person, laying down his life for liberty.
Him, one suffering all pain, for our gain.
Him, a beating heart, a heart he knew, silenced.
Do we remember Jesus Christ in the same way?
Keeping the reality of his sacrifice not only within our fingers, but everpresent within our heart?
Our warrior, the perfect warrior – Jesus – with his final breath beat death, sin and the war of all evil. He is worthy.
Our Jesus lion and lamb, burst free of the tomb. He is worthy.
Our Jesus, who sits at the right hand of the father, won the battle, so he could plead on our behalf. He is worthy.
Jesus was K.I.A.
Because of the lamb, who is also the lion,
we are now forever liberated, loved and alive.
Do you hold him close? Do you knead into his goodness? Do you remember the power of his miracles worked into your life? Do you draw from his words and wear them, like an embossed memorial, across your heart?
Today, hold close: Jesus. Died. For. Me.
Goodness, purity, wholeness was killed, willingly, on your behalf.
“This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” 1 Cor. 11:24
Jesus. The man who had it all, but gave it all – for you. R.I.P.
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What seemed like a possibility, a door, creaked and slowly shut. I couldn’t tell – did the door fully close or was there still a crack?
Either way, what I had longed to hear as a yes, disappeared like a vapor. Gone. Without a mention, without a word. As I figured it, no news – means people are avoiding you. They hate to be a disappointment (Humanomics 101).
As I saw it; I lost out.
Not wanted. Rejected. Not worthy. Hurt. Alone.
Ever been there?
Why is it that God seems to give you something only to slam a no in your face? It makes a girl soar in the throat from trying to hold back tears. That is how it feels. It feels like a smile turned upside down. It feels like a heart wanting to be happy, wanting to trust God, wanting to walk in faith, wanting all that and then getting pinched – hard.
Oww!!!
Do you feel left behind by God?
Do tears drop where hope once abounded?
I know, friends, it stinks. Let’s just first acknowledge, hot fudge sundae’s can end up melted. Dreams can wash up and away. Hopes can suffocate under discouragement. Sometimes, things don’t work – they break, and then, seemingly, break us.
They break our spirit of joy.
They break our mode of purpose.
They break our vision of the future.
They break how we see ourselves.
They break our feeling of belonging.
But, let me ask you…can they ever break the character of God.
As much as I want to stomp and pout before my Maker, the maker of everything, the maker of every opportunity – I have to stop to consider…
Who says I know the best way?
Who says this was ever God’s way?
Who says God doesn’t have in motion – a better way?
Who says God ever left me?
Who declared me not good enough?
If the great and powerful, high and mighty, God declared me good (Gen. 1:31), who is man to label me otherwise?
And, why do I give them permission?
If the all-knowing, all-seeing God, says he has plans prepared in advance for me (Eph. 2:10), what is a small hiccup?
A hiccup to God is a grain of sand to me. It is of no consequence.
Looking back, I can’t count the blessings that have come to me. But, what I can count on is that they’ve never arrived by striving. They’ve never shown up through inflated efforts. They’ve never walked in on account of man’s doing.
Nearly, every time, they’ve come like a surprise birthday party – out-of-nowhere, thrown in complete love. And what could be better than that?
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