Hindsight

I have always heard that hindsight is 20/20, and as I have walked this road of faith, I certainly believe it.  A few questions and circumstances recently have made me pause and reflect over my  life.  I have had some really amazing mountain top experiences, as well as a few walks in the valley.  There are certain events that really stand out in my life, events that I would not hesitate to say help define me: accepting Christ as my Savior at 13 years old; wrestling with and finally listening to His call in my life; the day I married my best friend; spending 2 weeks in Mwanza, Tanzania on a mission trip; struggling through 7 years of infertility; losing my first child in a miscarriage; the birth of both of my beautiful baby girls; losing 85 pounds; enduring 2 years of depression; and the Lord delivering me from strongholds that held me captive for years.  

It is so easy for me now to look back over these events and see the Lord’s sovereign hand in each of them.  He moved in amazing ways through His Word and His people.  I can see how each situation has had a profound impact on the person I am today.   I am still a work on progress, and cling to the promise that God will be faithful to complete the good work He has started in me. 

As I sit and think about my life I am finally able to thank God for the good and the bad.  I am thankful for the good things because I feel blessed that God would be gracious to me, loving me enough to bless me the way He has.  I am thankful for the bad things because those are the events and times in my life where the Lord really revealed himself to me.  I am convinced that if life was a bed of roses we would never learn what it means to depend on the Lord.  We would never experience real faith, not the superficial faith that most Christians profess. 

As I am writing this, I have a few friends on my heart.  One friend is struggling with depression and strongholds in her life that have her in bondage.  Another friend is struggling with her self image, physically and emotionally.  Another friend is watching helplessly as her sister is about to lose her last surviving child to cancer.  Yet another  friend is in the process of a painful divorce, desperate to hear from the Lord but is frozen solid in fear.  My heart breaks for each of my dear friends because I know how each of them are suffering.  My cries to the Lord are for strength and wisdom, for discernment and healing.  Our God is faithful and He will take care of His children.  I am confident that He is walking with each of my friends, and that He will continue to walk with them along their individual journeys. 

I feel a burden to tell each of them, and you, not to give up.  Don’t let fear reign in your heart.  Remember that the Creator of heaven and earth has created each of you uniquely and purposefully.  Even when we are in the middle of a storm and cannot see what lies ahead, just remember that Jesus is in the boat with you.  He will not let your boat sink, you will not be overtaken, you will make it out of the storm.  However, you have a choice to make in the middle of the storm.  You can trust Jesus and follow His lead, or you can listen to the lies Satan tells you and linger in the storm longer than you need to.  My prayer is that you will stop listening to the lies Satan is feeding you and concentrate on God’s still small voice.  Close your eyes, drown out the noise of the world, and listen to hear the Lord whisper your name.  The Lord promises us that if we seek Him with all our heart that we will find Him.  So, the real question is, do you really want to find Him?  Or are you content living in the midst of the storm?