I don’t know about you, but I have never been very good at handling new situations and directions in life. There are times when we choose or appear to have the choice to make a new start or head off on a different track to the one we have been on for quite a while and where we feel comfortable.
I am and have been at the stage for a while now where my life seems to be moving in a different direction. It has given me a sense of nervous and excited anticipation, discomfort, uncertainty and disorientation at different times and sometimes in various combinations of these factors.
One thing I am trying to remember, in all of this, is that there is a greater purpose, and that although the future is always uncertain for us all, “I know who holds the future and He’ll guide me with His hand. With God things don’t just happen, everything by Him is planned.” I remember singing that song at a New Year’s day service and it was followed by the most testing year I had experienced up till then! A friend of mine says, “Don’t fear the future, God has already been there.” I think it’s his motto in life, and he certainly hasn’t had an easy ride!
Looking at our lives from our perspective is a bit like looking at the back of a tapestry or piece of embroidery. All you see is tangled threads and what looks like disorganized chaos, but God looks at it from the front and sees, beauty, order and a pleasing result. If we make it our plan to please Him, He will guide us each step of our earthly pilgrimage. If we have put our trust in the sacrifice of Jesus in giving His life to save us from our sins, and asked for and accepted His forgiveness, we have already passed from death to eternal life.
Once we know God through His Son, our Lord Jesus, we get to realize that He is in the business of conforming us to the likeness of His Son, a work that goes on to the end of our earthly life and will only be completed when we go to live with Him for ever. Yes, this involves, sacrifice, trials, temptations and suffering, but there are also foretastes of Heaven, rejoicing, and enjoyment of His creation and the many gifts and benefits He showers on us every day.
God will supply all our needs, see us through the difficult times and ultimately bring us safely into His presence. He will also enable us to cope with changes in our lives and circumstances which to us seem so big at the time but are just a small part of His eternal plan.
Psalm 23
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures,
He leads me beside quiet waters.
He restores my soul.
He guides me in paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.
