I can look back through my life and think of times I never thought would pass. Times that I thought would only bring heartache, but the Lord saw before me. He not only knew my heart, but He too knew what was up ahead of me. He took that heartache and taught me valuable lessons. Most importantly to trust in Him.
Goodness, if I were to try and trust in my own understandings, I might just give up. There are still things in my life I simply don't understand. Things that I would like to see fixed and perfected. Not by my will, but by His. Everything in God's perfect timing.
Looking back, it's easy to get stuck there. Like a 4x4 trying to haul through thick mud. No matter how much power you use, sometimes your simply just not going to move without help. God is that help for me. He is that One I call on to pull me out of the muck and mire.
For me, I seem to sit there in the mud, wondering how in the world I got to be stuck there. Stuck with no where to go. Sure, we can have those pity parties. I can throw some of the biggest bashes ever, but no one wants to show up except for me. Oh, there is One other who is always in attendance. He is the One who nudges me to move. He is the One who grabs hold of my hand and isn't letting go until I get up and wipe my tears.
He doesn't want us stuck in yesterday. Yesterday is gone. No matter how much we try to hang on to it in our minds, it's gone. Whether they are good memories or those that bring shame and pain. In staying put in yesterday we are only losing what we have today. We miss so very much by looking back. Satan loves for us to be stuck in yesterday. Then we can't really focus on the blessings of today. God takes those ashes of yesterday and turns them into beauty.
Oswald Chambers once said, "If you are going to be used by God, He will take you through a multitude of experiences that are not meant for you at all, they are meant to make you useful in His hands, and to enable you to understand what transpires in other souls so that you will never be surprised at what you come across."
Are we really going to go anywhere if we are always comfortable and cozy? All those trials we go through are stories of our lives that can touch another. As those very people around us watch us go through valleys they are witnessing God do great and mighty wonders through us. Wow, He gives strength to overcome ALL! He doesn't bring us half way around and leave us there to figure it out on our own. He brings us all the way through. He completes us!
I often find myself praising God for all the good that He brings to my life. You know, for those blessings that come out of no where and surprise us speechless. I am often quick to call others and share the wonders of God, but what about those times when I am lost and trying to find my way through the latest trial of the week? I am not standing ready to dance through the kitchen singing praises. Most likely I am in my bed with the covers over my head waiting for a new day. Why? Can God not take those days of darkness and bring light to them? Can He not use up everything in my life for His glory and honor? God doesn't just use some things, He uses it all!
It takes those good days and those days that bring us to our knees to realize just how great He really is. We learn to depend on Him, not ourselves. We learn that when we surrender all to Him, we will witness a miraculous change taking place. Us! As we travel through the valleys of life, God is preparing us for the mountain tops. Would we really appreciate all the goodness, if we didn't taste a little of the bitterness? God has a purpose and plan for everything that touches our life. There is nothing. Nothing at all that touches my life without first going through His hands. That alone should make us feel loved. He only wants the very best for us.
As I leave my past behind, He takes it. Each and every part and molds it into a masterpiece of design. As I place my future in His hands, He takes it. Each and every part He is going to use to bring glory and honor to His Father, who has given Him the ability to create a new me.
It is my prayer that I can lay down my past and trust the Lord with everything in my life. All the worries and anxieties that travel through my senses. All the hurt that lies heavy on my bones and the guilt that tries with all it's might to hold me down. God can take all that and bring me to be a new person, striving only to serve my Savior with a life that He has given me.
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us n all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also abounds through Christ. Now if we are afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effective for enduring the same sufferings which we also suffer. Or if we are comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation. And our hope for you is steadfast, because we know that as you are partakers of the sufferings, so also you will partake of the consolation." 2 Corinthians 1:3-7
We can give adoration to our Lord each and every day. He is more concerned with you and how you will proceed in your circumstances than He is with the circumstances that surround you. He has each and every circumstance under control. We just have to learn to surrender to Him and trust Him. It's then we can find peace and comfort in all that surrounds us.
Whatever is in your life today, whether good or bad, in your eyes, it's all good to God. He sees past what we see. He sees much further down the road and He too sees all those people that will be touched by His wondrous works that we never witness. Only on the other side of this earth will we then see ALL that He has done.
