Apples of Gold

I started playing soccer at recess when I was in about 4th grade. Our P.E. coach watched us playing and decided we should form a team. We were the biggest rag-tag group of mismatched players in the league. We didn’t look like much but it didn’t take long for other teams to realize that we knew how to play the game. By the time I was in high school I found myself on a team with a bunch of guys. Our school didn’t have a girls team and I worked like crazy to earn a spot on the men’s varsity team. My senior year I had earned a starting position as a half-back. During a pre-season match I hyper-extended my knee and had to take it easy for awhile. As a result, my coach, who understandably was always concerned that I might get hurt, gave the position to one of the guys. The disappointment was real. I spent years working very hard to keep up with the guys and although I still played a lot this was a tough blow. 

There are few guarantees in life. We can improve our odds for achieving our goals with hard work and dedication but there are times that the things we have been waiting for are snatched away just when we are close enough to touch them. This can leave us frustrated, confused, even angry. The temptation to question God in the middle of disappointment can be very real. Over the years I have learned that, even though I might think it was easier to get one, God doesn’t owe me an explanation for the things he allows to happen in my life. In fact, there are things that we will likely never fully understand until we are with him in heaven. So here is our challenge during times of confusion:

Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take. Don’t be impressed with your own wisdom. Instead, fear the LORD and turn away from evil. Proverbs 3:5-7

Many of you have likely memorized verses 5 & 6 but how often do we link 7 to them? This verse holds the key to applying the others. Waiting for an explanation can be challenging. Closed doors, side-tracked hopes and dreams, unexpected shifts in direction, long-term unanswered prayers: all of these put us in a position that deep trust in God, in fact whole-hearted trust is necessary to keep us from slipping. Trusting God is much easier when we realize he knows more than we do. What looks like an impending train wreck to me might be the pivotal point in God’s very well-planned design. 

So wait for it! Wait for an explanation, an answer, a direction, a rescue. 

Yet I am confident I will see the LORD’s goodness while I am here in the land of the living. Wait patiently for the LORD. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the LORD. Psalm 27:13-14 

As the waiting drags on, admittedly, my patience wavers from time to time. For me it is necessary to run through my question list with the Lord again and again. He hasn’t forgotten; but I need to remind myself that God is on the case. 

Flooding is rather common in our area. At times high water signs, or barriers blocking off a submerged road might look like an inconvenience but those raging waters can be deadly. Sometimes roadblocks are for my protection. 

The fog of confusion can temporarily blind us to the unwavering care and concern of our God . Bumps might knock the wind out of us but anything we encounter has been taken into consideration by our loving Father. It’s all part of the plan-even the side roads are being woven in for our good. 

For I know the plans I have for you, says the LORD. They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. Jeremiah 29:11-12

There is that wholehearted thing again! Deliberately trusting God. Determinedly pursuing him and his plan. Remember that his plans are good.   Waiting for his timing, his direction, his answers is only accomplished when we fully surrender to him. Believing that if he withholds it, it wasn’t good for us. 

For the LORD God is our sun and our shield; He gives us grace and glory. The LORD will withhold no good thing from those who do what is right. O LORD of Heaven’s Armies, what joy for those who trust in you. Psalm 84:11-12

Read it, believe it, wait for it!