We love it when a good plan comes together. We enjoy seeing the fruit of our labors and we celebrate with those who are successfully navigating the difficulties of life. Those are the good days. Problems arise however when we simply don’t understand our circumstances, or the chaos surrounding someone else’s life. We try to imagine what brought on the troubles, or if it was the fault of one person or another. When we can’t find any other solutions, we often wonder where God is in all that mess.
Proverbs 3:5 tells us not to worry about the mess. It suggests that we only have one job in that situation. Our job is to trust God and not to expect we should understand it. That means we cannot seek peace of mind through our own understanding of any issue that arises. Brilliant as we may be, we don’t have the whole picture of what led up to the current distress. We seldom have that kind of picture for our own lives, yet, somehow we not only lean, but we fully embrace our own understanding. Once we figure out why something happened, we move on and get back into our comfort zones, because we’ve figured things out. Whew!
So, what should we do then? We ask God for help. When we’re pleading with Him to help us understand a difficult circumstance, we’re heading in the right direction. We’re moving toward God, asking for His Divine intervention. We know we might have assessed things incorrectly at best, and that we simply don’t know what to do, at worst. Every prayer that says, “Help me understand,” opens the door to all we need to know, because we’re going to the Source of hope and grace and love. Will we always get satisfying answers? Will we understand things more fully? Chances are good that we still will grieve, or wonder, or struggle with the outcomes. However, we may also see God’s hand at work as He walks with us and shines His truth into our hearts and minds. It’s not magic. It’s not instant gratification, but it’s the way we develop utter trust in our Creator. It’s the way we come to know that we are not alone, we have not been abandoned, we are not at fault. We are turning to the only One who can make a difference, and give us peace.
May God bless you as you seek Him with your own questions, your own difficulties, and trust Him even more with the outcomes.
As the Scripture also says, “The joy of the Lord is my strength.”