Monday's Musings: That thing

I thought I would be through with this one particular situation (thing)  by now… Things had even started happening where I thought it was being taken care of. And then… BAM. The door was shut. In my face.

I was back to where I started.  ... Ever been in a position like that?

You’d been asking God to answer a prayer for that thing… whether it might be for a boyfriend, a husband, a child, money to pay off medical debt, a new job, a friendship restored…

Or maybe you’re like me on some days, and that thing, that “situation” that I’m asking God to move me through is the ability to tame my hair, the ability to remember to take my lunch to work, the ability to make it to the gas station since my gas light came on, the ability to turn down the cookie…since I already ate 2 doughnuts!!

We all have days with situations. Some situations are bigger than others. Some are longer than others. But we all have periods where we thought we would be done dealing with that thing by now. The boyfriend would have appeared, the financial struggles would have eased, the parents would stop fighting… the frizz would have been beaten, the lunch would have been brought, or the weight would have been lost. Yet instead...

 BAM. Door shut.

During this period, with my thing, God has been so gracious to me. He’s brought people into my life that have ministered to me in ways I wouldn’t have expected. He’s given me encouragement from many surprising and different directions. His grace has been my anchor. But it’s the kind of grace that also brings a stinging (but needed) reminder. The kind of grace that we are oh-so-thankful for and yet cringe for at the same time.

It’s the grace that God gives when He pours out encouragement for you about that thing while simultaneously showing you that thing is going to last a bit longer.

It was the grace I received when I was in my mid-twenties and was struggling with loneliness… He gave me Scripture after Scripture that brought peace to my soul… while also impressing on me that singleness was that thing  -that current stage of life- that I was going to endure for a while.

The grace you get to keep praying and fighting on the day that your friend or family member gets the news that the medical tests came back positive and that thing, that life situation of medical turmoil, pain, and confusion must be endured for a bit longer…

The grace that I’ve watched my sister live by, day-by-day for the past two years…. While her thing continues and she waits.

God’s Grace: It comes in all shapes and sizes. It comes in words, in people, in music… It comes when you least expect or when you most need it. And what I’m learning is that, although I used to think His grace takes care of situations, that is not always true. Sometimes His grace takes you out of that thing, but sometimes it leaves you in that thing.

1 Peter 4:19 Therefore, those who also suffer according to the will of God shall entrust their souls to a faithful Creator in doing what is right.

1 Peter 5:10 After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you.

So my friends, join me in clinging to Peter’s words, encouragement and promises. Our “thing’s” won’t last for eternity but His grace will.