It sure isn't how I had it planned...but it is totally OK!
Do you have things in your life happen that you did not plan? Pretty sure we all do. Some of those things are minor, we don't set the alarm clock and we are late, we forget the one thing we go to the store for in the first place and supper plans change. The event we've looked forward to for months isn't going to happen because you've caught the worst cold in your life. Sometimes the changes out of our control are major. Your company downsizes and you are unemployed. Your doctor tells you the news you didn't want to hear, you have cancer. Family members that you love are suddenly estranged from you, ripped out of your life and your heart. Yes, life holds unexpected events that would NEVER have been what we planned. But God who knows the plans he has for you (Jeremiah 29:11) the one who has written all the days of your life. (Psalm 139:16), these horrible, hurtful things will not disrupt his master plan for your life. In fact, He can use these very things that at first stress us out and cause us so much pain to make us better, more confident, stronger in our faith and even more intimate with the Savior we love. Wow! What a God.
There was a storm that happened in my life on August 18, 2011 and it was the worst hurt I have ever felt. It seemed so big, so ugly, so destructive that I couldn't get my head to stop spinning. I knew that day that life would never be "normal" again. But it has become a new kind of normal and God is still with me, in fact, He has pulled me up close and loved me even when I was not responding how He wanted. He has spoke to me through messages, Sunday School lessons and music on the radio. He has whispered to me how much he loves me and showed his majesty and power.
The 1 year anniversary of that event came just a few weeks ago and I had really been dreading it. I just "knew" it would be a bad day filled with every detail lived over and over in my mind. But I was wrong! So wrong! Did you know that August 18th this year fell on a Saturday and that I spent my early morning teaching an exercise class, then quickly hurried home to shower and meet a dear freind for a day of shopping and then home to spend the evening with my sweet hubby. You see with it not be a weekday, I wasn't at work and didn't have to write the "date" all day long. I didn't even think about it. The Lord gave me that day without one single thought of the hurt I'd had a year ago. HALLELUJAH!! That is my God! That is how powerful He is. He didn't even allow my mind to recall the hurt. He proved to me that joy is possible. That day was about as perfect as a day gets. I laughed and had so much fun, got excited about some new clothes and just enjoyed being a girl. Came home to a sweet husband who I enjoyed spending time and conversation with. It was about 2 days later I realized that the day had come and even more importantly it had GONE and without even a thought of the hurt. Don't get me wrong, the enemy is powerful and I am no match for him but God is more powerful and He is in control of my life, my thoughts and my joy.
God I praise you for this victory. I praise you for your love and I will joy in you no matter what, even if my plans are not yours. I will continue to trust you. (Ex 14:14), you keep fighting Lord, you are doing a fine job! I will keep thinking on good things so that there will be praise (Phil 4:8)
