"I remember the days of old. I ponder all your great works and think about what you have done. I lift my hands to you in prayer. I thirst for you as parched land thirsts for rain." Psalm 143:5-6 (NLT)
Life is unpredictable. I could stop with just today's verse and my first sentence and have a full message that we would all understand.
How many times have you faced twists and turns as you go through your day? We make plans for the evening but the babysitter calls and says she is ill. We have a mountain of laundry but the washing machine malfunctions. We are in the middle of a road trip and the car breaks down. An outside wedding is planned but a coming storm forces a change in plans. We never know what is going to happen next, but somehow, we keep going.
Years ago, my husband was contacted by a company in California about a promising job. The interviews were going so well that we were sure they were going to hire him. But there was an issue that would make a move very difficult for us. At that time, my mother was in a nursing home and I was the only family member nearby to oversee her care and visit her. It wasn't going to be feasible to move her with us so I began praying. I will never forget my words to the Lord that day. I said, "Lord, I don't know how you are going to make a way, but I know for sure that you will."
I meant those words wholeheartedly. In my walk with Him over the years, I have witnessed Him working in miraculous ways so I had no doubt that He would clear the pathway if this move was His will for our family. When my mother passed away a few days later, my heart was broken. Though I had trusted Him to make a way, I did not think it would be through her death. Then, we got the call from California. They had decided on another candidate.
I can remember falling over my bed and sobbing in confusion. I couldn't understand why He had allowed my mom to pass away when He knew that the job was not going to work out.
Life is unpredictable.
God supplied another job for my beloved. A better one. But, for awhile, we felt lost as though we were wandering in a desert without signs that pointed the way we should go. Although we knew God was with us, we couldn't see Him working. We cried out for direction. We begged Him to give us some inkling of what our future held. After a bit of time we felt like the man in the old movies that crawled through the desert seeking water. We needed the refreshing that only the Lord can give.
When we find ourselves in these moments, it helps to look back and see how God has worked in our previous life quandaries. Remembering our history with Him provides reassurance for where we are and where we are going. Pondering His works can calm our uneasy hearts and minds and help us to see that His timing is always right, even when it doesn't coincide with our own.
Wherever you stand today, no matter what you are facing, take the time to remember how He has provided in the past and how He has shown Himself faithful. It will help to spend time reading the Bible where you will see how He has worked in lives since the beginning and be reminded of His promises for our future. None of us faces a life without difficulty but we can always trust that we are not alone and that He will make a way even when there seems to be no way.
May His holy arms surround you. God bless.
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