That Didn’t Go As Planned...
We’ve all been there. Whether you live overseas or in the town you grew up in, we all have had situations that completely catch us off guard. They leave us wondering and thinking, “Well that certainly didn’t go as planned.” I was recently reminded of this when I experienced a pretty hard, exhausting, and extremely uncomfortable situation. It delayed my return back to the country I’m serving in and I was hurt, ashamed, and even angry at the Lord. However, in the process of buying a new plane ticket, I was struck with the thought “It was planned all along... The Lord knew.”
My organization had a conference a couple weeks ago and that was the main reason I was back in the States. While I was there I had a mentor speak to me and she was dwelling on the thought, and truth, that the “Lord giveth and taketh away.” Reading it and hearing it in this old English actually gave it more weight in my mind. How often do our uncertain and unplanned situations seem like times where He is taking something from us. It seems unfair, unsafe, or even painful. Yet, He is a God who takes and who gives. This is a hard concept to grapple with but it doesn’t make it any less true. Our situations or events that seem to go awry or end up completely different than what we pictured - they were not lost or forgotten or mishandled by the Lord. I am starting to think that there’s a good chance those circumstances were the result of the Lord taking and giving. I know, it doesn’t make it any less painful or uncomfortable, but I am choosing to believe that our just God, who fights and pursues each of His children, knows exactly when to give, and when to take away.
“Lord, we give it all to you God, trusting that you’ll make something beautiful out of me…”