every situation you encounter can either have God in it…or you can do it your own way.
pre 2008ish i feel like there were a lot of the situations in my life where i tried to man handle it. i would schmooze and manipulate even if i wasn’t intending to. i would fight like the world was on my shoulders. like i could somehow do a better job than the king of the universe. like my way was somehow better because my linear and logical thought process made sense. those are the situations that led to pain. to hurt. they are the situations that lead to repeated hand to forehead motions with homer simpson’s “doh” sense of frustration.
but then…there are those sweet situations where God is involved. when you allow God to be fully captivating. fully relying on His strength and not your own. the situations where you look back at it and think man i did not see that coming but there is peace. they are the situations that are some how sweet in spite of the pain. before you tag me masochistic, hear me out. haven’t you given a situation completely to God, in the end it not have turned out like you had hoped, and then in perfect time his sweet revelation touches your heart and there is a sense of surreal peace. that peace that passes all understanding! if you haven’t, i highly recommend it.
it fans the flame. it makes you want to trust him more each time. you want to give it all to him. you want to rely on his grace because even when you fall. even when you are hurt. when you are abandoned or passed over for the promotion. when you loose a friend or are deeply hurt, he’s there.
he’s there.
he’s always there.
but it’s not like he is just there with nothing to say. he whispers his sweet truth to his own. he speaks tenderly to them in the wilderness. joy comes in the morning. maybe not the morning after. maybe not a week after. but it comes. and something has shifted in your heart. in your spirit. you are never the same. you feel a closeness that wasn’t there before. your spirit is a little more in love with this sovereign king we serve. there is a little more peace for the next situation. a little more trust.
and sometimes it comes slowly…but take heart, it comes! he is so faithful to speak. to love. to sing over us with delight. because that is the God we serve.