"For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
nor are My ways your ways," says the LORD.
for as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are My ways higher than your ways,
and My thoughts than your thoughts."
Isaiah 55:8-9
Isaiah 55:8-9
Have you ever experienced that moment when something in your
life comes crashing down? Something you were hoping for or dreaming
about? You never saw it coming. Your heart skips a beat as reality
hits, and all you can manage is a blank stare while wondering "Why?"
and "What now?".
A surprise like that is never easy. I know cause I've been
there many times. I know how it feels to have a hope or dream dashed to
the ground. I've looked up into the sky so many times, asking God why He
allowed certain things to happen.
Chances are, we can't change or fix the situation. So why
waste the precious time God's given us by moping around and shedding
tears over something beyond our control? Why is it so hard to just let
go and trust that God knows best? That's a lesson He's been teaching me
lately. In the spring of last year I was in great distress over my
life.. I was one year out of high school, had no driver's license, no
job, no college plans. I vowed that by fall my life would
be different. I would have my driver's license, I would get a job, and I
would jump into life just like my friends... At least, that's what I
dreamed would happen.
What really happened that fall was I found out I had stomach ulcers. I had to stay in my house for the next 5 longest months of my life in extreme pain, barely eating, and fighting panic attacks and anxiety because I just couldn't come to grips on my situation. Every moment I wondered "Why, God? What good could possibly come from this?". Now, after recovering from that experience, when I look back on that time of my life, I can see the good that came of it.
I was going in the wrong direction that summer. I was wanting to jump into life before I was ready, and deep down I knew I wasn't ready. I had major trust-God issues and my prayer life had faded till almost nonexistent. God knows our hearts, He knows everything we're thinking before we think it, what choices we're going to make, etc. I believe He knew the only thing that would turn my life around would be to allow a crisis that would put my life on hold until I finally recognized the fact that I needed to change. If I was given the opportunity to wipe out those long, 5 months, I would turn it down. I wouldn't trade those dark days for anything, because it was through that experience that I learned what it means to have a real relationship with God; I learned that prayer isn't something you do only once in a while; and I learned how to trust God for real.
What really happened that fall was I found out I had stomach ulcers. I had to stay in my house for the next 5 longest months of my life in extreme pain, barely eating, and fighting panic attacks and anxiety because I just couldn't come to grips on my situation. Every moment I wondered "Why, God? What good could possibly come from this?". Now, after recovering from that experience, when I look back on that time of my life, I can see the good that came of it.
I was going in the wrong direction that summer. I was wanting to jump into life before I was ready, and deep down I knew I wasn't ready. I had major trust-God issues and my prayer life had faded till almost nonexistent. God knows our hearts, He knows everything we're thinking before we think it, what choices we're going to make, etc. I believe He knew the only thing that would turn my life around would be to allow a crisis that would put my life on hold until I finally recognized the fact that I needed to change. If I was given the opportunity to wipe out those long, 5 months, I would turn it down. I wouldn't trade those dark days for anything, because it was through that experience that I learned what it means to have a real relationship with God; I learned that prayer isn't something you do only once in a while; and I learned how to trust God for real.
God's ways are not our ways. If we let Him work in our hearts, He can take even the worst days of our lives and through them draw us closer to Him.
"For You, O God, have tested us;
You have refined us as silver is refined,
You brought us into the net,
You laid afflictions on our backs.
You have caused men to ride over our heads,
We went through fire and through water;
but You brought us out to rich fulfillment."
Psalm 66:10-12
The story of Job in the Bible is inspiring. He had everything,
and the Bible says that "this man was the greatest of all the people of
the East."(Job 1:3). Then in one day it was all gone. His family, his
servants, his livestock, everything. All that loss thrust on him all at
once, his hopes and dreams crumpled to the ground, but do you know what
some of the first words out of his mouth were?
"...the LORD gave, and the Lord has taken away;
Blessed be the name of the LORD."
Job 1:21
His trust in God was so great, he even went so far as to say,
"Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him."
Job 13:15
How must it be to trust God like that! That's like saying, "Okay, God.
You've allowed my life to be ruined and everything to be taken from me.
If it's Your will that I myself die, then so be it. no matter what, I trust that You know what You're doing."
Do you trust God so much that even if He allowed your death,
you'd still have peace in knowing that God knows what's best for you?
God sent me this song over the radio recently as I was
struggling to understand why He allowed something in my life. It's
become one of my favorites, and I wanted to share it. It's called "No
Matter What" by Kerrie Roberts :)
In Christ,
~Shannon
