Into the Unknown

This past weekend I took a little trip. I went to a state park in New Jersey where I tried and failed at fishing and then hiked a bit through the woods. I spent a lot of time reading, praying, and in silence. The purpose of this was not just to spend time alone (though desperately needed) but to spend time with God. 

For the last few months, I have been running nonstop. My days have been endless action from morning to evening. I’ve expressed repeatedly in this newsletter how I’ve been running on fumes. I needed time to sit and that’s exactly what I did. My time by the lake taught me some valuable lessons.

God is not silent

There are certainly no accidents in God’s kingdom. When I pulled up to the park Saturday, I spent some time fiddling with my fishing rod. As I was doing this, a family pulled up next to me. I heard the father mention something about Friday morning prayers with some guys and my ears perked up. 

We ended up settling not far from each other, close enough that I could hear everything they were saying. I started journaling and began to write about some of my frustrations with where I am in life. In a moment of pause, I just happened to hear them reading Scripture. The passage was 1 Corinthians 12:12: For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. 

I was reminded at that moment that I am where I’m supposed to be. I grabbed dinner with a good friend last week and he kept reminding me that God has uniquely placed me where I am for his good purposes. We don’t always get to choose our station in life but we do choose how faithful we will be there. 

As I started to journal about some feelings of loneliness, a guy walked by in a hoodie that said “I Am Known.” (How Christian was this park btw???)  I recognized this hoodie as being the merch of some Christian artist but the words hit me like a sack of bricks. Again, a reminder that in a world where many of us feel alone and unknown, there is one who knows us better than we know ourselves. Our creator looks on us with love and knows more deeply than anyone ever could.

Both of those stories are reminders that God is constantly speaking to us through a variety of ways, we just have to be open to hearing from him. 

God’s Plans Are Not Always Our Plans

I’m spending my time in Ezekiel right now. One thing I was reminded of as I was reading this weekend is that Ezekiel’s life was nothing like he planned it. On his 30th birthday, just when he thought he was going to be a priest, the thing he prepared for and looked to his entire life, God called him to a different role. This role was not only different but difficult and probably undesirable. 

I can empathize with him. I would dare say most of us can. How many times have we made plans, set goals, or had strong desires only to see life go in the exact opposite direction? Much like Ezekiel, it takes great faith to trust God’s vision for our lives over our own. Here is what I’ll say: when have God’s plans for your life, even the hard ones, ever been for your ill? God has a long enough track record of faithfulness so we can trust him with our lives.

Don’t Give Up

In that same vein, God is calling us to faithfulness as well. I called my grandmother on the ride home and when she learned that I still hadn’t found a job, her only response was to not give up on God. Her exact words were: You don’t give up because His timing is better than ours and what he has for you will come when he is ready.

Simple yet profound. I can’t argue with that. I know what it looks like to try and circumvent God’s timing to try and find a faster way, it doesn’t work. 

Here is my encouragement to you this week: God hears your cries. He knows your struggles. He sees you and loves you. Stay faithful family, Romans 8 is still true: He works all things together for our good.