Life can take twists and turns that you don’t imagine would
ever happen to you. It is hard to think that things will be so difficult. The
Lord gives us the desires of our heart, after all, as in Psalm 37:4, Psalm
20:4, and Jeremiah 29:11, so when your dreams turn out miserably, what can you
do? Is God rejecting your desires and dreams, pointing you in a new direction,
or…?
You simply put one foot in front of the other, trusting in
the Lord to provide and guide. And He does – in ways you can’t even perceive
unless you’ve learned to be completely dependent on Him, and that is a process
that begins anew each day.
After a particularly difficult run of circumstances, job
loss then extended unemployment for my husband who was the sole bread winner
for our family in the early 2000’s followed by foreclosure, some compared us to
Job, suffering what seemed to the outside world like one attack after another. What
they didn’t see were the dark moments of doubt and fear, the times of impatience
and bewilderment when we cried out “Why us, Lord?” We were blessed to have the
Holy Spirit guide us back to confidence in the Lord via His Word. Those moments
of questioning turned into simple faith and trust as we realized that the Lord
had not forsaken us, but had, in fact, taken precious care of us.
Others told us what an example of patient faith we were. I
always pointed out to them the times of doubt and insecurity that they didn’t
see because it happened in the middle of the night when others were resting but
sleep eluded. Nevertheless, with the dawn comes renewed hope because the Lord
had so graciously blessed us with His loving care. So often, when we didn’t
have even an idea of how to get through a tough spot, the Lord worked through
others to bless us in unimaginable ways. When others wanted to point to us as
an example of patient hope and faith, I instead gave the credit to the Lord for
it is He who has pulled us through. Were it left up to our own miserable
selves, we would not be where we are now. He lifts us up, sustains us, bolsters
our faith and gives us hope and courage.
There were so many lessons we learned that I pray we will always
remember. I pray we will always have compassion for others as they encounter
their steep and rocky paths. I pray that we will be moved to help in material
and spiritual ways as the Holy Spirit prompts us to be the hands and feet of
God. And I pray that we will always remember that it is to the Lord’s complete
credit that we made it through. I often think of that poem “Footprints.” The
Lord carried us and sustained us. Like the Good Shepherd that He is, He put us
on His shoulders for that time and walked us through to a smoother part of life’s
journey for a while.
Things didn’t exactly turn out as expected, however. Our
family was torn asunder by divorce, and that was another unexpected turn to
life with repercussions we still deal with, and more opportunities to trust in
the Lord. I have learned that life isn’t always as you imagine it will be, and
that’s ok.
One part of life segues into another, and there is happiness
and joy that can be found along the way. It really is a matter of attitude,
which I’ll talk about in next week’s post.
Thank you, Lord, for Your shepherding of my family.
Amen.
