Life Lessons

Recently I discovered, much to my dismay, nodules in my hands signifying the start of arthritis. Well that would explain some of the pain but really? I’m not even 50. My entire career rests on my hands & dexterity. God how could you allow me to have arthritis when that could seriously impact my work & what you called me to do? Then it hit me-this wasn’t a huge surprise to God. He knew before He even called me that this was going to happen AND the kind of impact it could have. I then started reflecting on how over the course of my life events & things have come up which have made me wonder how I was ever going to be able to continue to do that which I firmly believe God has called me to do. As this appears to be an ongoing process with many instances to learn I thought I would share with you 5 things I have learned & relearned.

1-God is still on the Throne of Heaven & He still reigns even when times are tough, things look bad, & all is most definitely not right with the world around us or just our personal world. We may, like Job, not understand what is going on or why it is going on but we can learn that we need to trust the One who is all-powerful and all-knowing. Our Father really does know best even when we don’t think so. I can say that I am really thankful that God did not answer every prayer I ever prayed the way I wanted-what a disaster my life would be if He had done so even though at the time the experiences were painful. Jeremiah 29:11 tells us that God has good plans for us, to give us hope & not for harm.

2-When you try to do what God has called you to do or live the way you should live in your own power, in your own strength, you should be prepared to fail & maybe even fail big. We can do all that God calls us to do but only if we remember where our strength & power has come from-Christ. (Phil 4:13) We can overcome in all that comes our way because God has given us the Holy Spirit to comfort & guide us in our daily lives. How often do we tap into our resource of God’s power in our daily lives?

3-God uses imperfect, flawed people & gives them what they need to succeed. Moses had a stutter & yet was God’s mouthpiece before Pharaoh. Paul may well have had significant problems with eyesight & yet he was the most prolific writer of the New Testament! When God calls you to do something He gives you the tools you need to prosper, flourish, & do the job. God doesn’t promise us the easy way but the doable way.

4-God is faithful. Faithful is He that calls who will also do it. (1 Th 5:12). It may be someday that God will call us to do something different but in the meantime He will be faithful in empowering us in the here & now. That isn’t to say that life or any change that comes is painless but the One who calls is faithful in all instances.

5-God’s timing & my timing were rarely the same. The Bible tells us to wait patiently on the Lord. Perhaps we need to be prepared. Moses was 80 years old before leading the nation of Israel out of Egypt. Several years passed between David’s anointing and assuming the throne. Look at how long it was before Abraham and Sarah had Isaac. Noah worked on the ark for over 100 years before the flood actually came. God promises us that if we wait patiently on Him we will have the strength of eagles and not be weary (Is 40:12). Have you noticed that many times we consider verses only for the spiritual aspect of our lives & not the temporal? We need to stop compartmentalizing our lives into spiritual & temporal. God is not interested in just our spiritual lives but also our temporal lives. His power is ours for the asking for all aspects of our lives. So I can see looming disaster in my hands or God’s sovereignty. God knows where this will lead and for now that is enough.