Friends
Are you a ”take action” sort of person, or more of a procrastinator? Do you go with the flow, or do you relish things being tidy and under control?
For the next few weeks, I thought that we might reflect on a few of the stories in my new personal memoir, ”Rough Places Smooth: Moments In A Journey Through Blindness.” I am so grateful and honored that so many of you have already read the book. I hope these reflections will be meaningful to you and perhaps offer applications to your own life. If you would like to check out the book, it is available on Amazon as a paperback or Kindle eBook. My sincere thanks to all of you for your incredible support and lovely comments!
+++
“The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”
Psalm 34:18 – NIV
Have you ever had that bad feeling that something’s just not right? Perhaps it was a health issue. Maybe it was a relationship. Whatever the source, deep down inside your gut, you knew something wasn’t right.
Perhaps you are a forthright person who recognized the issue immediately and took action. Maybe you acted more like me, however, and consciously, or even unconsciously, chose not to deal with the situation. You scoffed it off. You kicked the can down the road. You kept telling yourself that you could deal with it later. It’ll wait. It’ll be OK.
But it really wasn’t OK. I knew long before I ever entered the optometrist’s office that something wasn’t right with my vision. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but I knew I wasn’t seeing things like I should. Why didn’t I address the issue sooner? I don’t honestly know. I think I was afraid. I didn’t want anything to be wrong. When you get down to the crux of the matter, I guess it was denial, and for quite awhile there, I even denied that..
“That was the last straw. Something just wasn’t right. For more than a year, I had been noticing these odd things. I kept shrugging them off, blaming the busyness of motherhood and work for leaving me tired and distracted. But the oddities were piling up, and I couldn’t ignore them anymore. By this point, I was seeing a pattern that bothered me. I still wasn’t sure what to do, but I made an eye appointment anyway.”*
Why do we do that with our problems? Why do we procrastinate and perseverate and panic? Why does it take coming to the end of things for us to lay our problems at the feet of Jesus?
We hold onto our concerns so tightly, never letting go, always trying to fix things, continually trying to make it right. We fool ourselves into thinking that we can control anything and everything. That might work for our food preferences or home décor, but when it comes to the big stuff that goes awry, we find ourselves frustrated and floundering. We are caught in a whirlwind, our worries swirling around our heads, our souls in a state of panic, feeling stressed, helpless, and oh, so alone.
But that’s just it. We don’t have to face our problems alone. God is already there, waiting for us to notice and receive His presence. God doesn’t want to simply stroll with us in the sunshine, and then jog away when the storm clouds begin to fill the sky. No, God wants to weather the stress, and the storms, and the sorrow with us too. He wants us to let go and surrender ourselves and our problems to Him. He is the one in control anyway. Ultimately, He is the only one in the “me and God” equation who has the ability to bring peace in the midst of peril.
There is nothing that happens to us in this fallen and sinful world that we inhabit that God can’t redeem. Hear this, friend. God doesn’t ordain your pain, but He can use it. He can take the hardships that come from living in a world steeped in sin, and redeem them for good.
Still, God may not choose to fix things according to our personal preferences. His idea of restoration may be different than ours. Yet, if we believe that God is good, and that He loves us, we must trust His plan. Jeremiah 29:11 tells us, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future”(Jeremiah 29:11, NIV).
God has a good plan for us. It may not always be easy, but God can work our circumstances for our good, and for the good of others. God is in the business of healing. Still, He can’t bring beauty out of our ashes until we surrender our brokenness to Him..
Friend, what is driving you to your knees today? What do you need to open your hands and surrender to God? He’s waiting. He is there for you, and with you. Don’t delay. Give it to God right here, right now.
+++
“and provide for those who grieve in Zion— to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor.”
Isaiah 61:3 – NIV
PRAYER
O Good, Good Father, it’s so hard for us to surrender our selves and our problems to You, and yet, that is exactly what we need to do. Help us entrust everything and everyone to Your loving and healing hands. Heal our brokenness. Bring beauty from our ashes, and grant us hope and a future.
In the Gracious Name of Jesus, we pray,
Amen
Blessings,
Anita
*Excerpt from ”Something’s Not Right” in Chapter 1 of “Rough Places Smooth: Moments In A Journey Through Blindness”
© 2022 by Anita Peden Sherer
All Rights Reserved.
-APS 2/27/2023
Faith Beyond Sight 