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Lynn_J -> This Isn't What I Signed Up For (9/30/2008 5:53:46 PM)
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by Lynn Jacobs
Sign my name at the bottom of a divorce decree, or add my signature to a life insurance policy claim form for my late husband. Please send me an eviction notice, or count me in the next time life-threatening illnesses are passed around. Sound ludicrous? Of course! We would never sign up for these things, would we?
We choose a particular path in life, but sometimes it seems that another path chooses us. We may make unwise decisions and then suffer the consequences, but there are times when life signs us up for something without our permission . . . divorce, widowhood, illness, unemployment, eviction, car repossession . . . and we remind God and anyone else who will listen that this isn’t what we signed up for. This isn’t the life we had dreamed about or began planning after marrying our high school sweetheart or relocating to a new city for that dream job. We didn’t ask for heartache or pain, but we ended up with it anyway.
Let’s face it, we don’t always have a “three cookie day,” as Max Lucado puts it. He was leading family devotions one night and asked one of his daughters to set a place in front of each family member. In the center of the table, he placed a collection of food items: fruit, raw veggies, and some Oreo cookies. “Every day,” he began to explain, “God prepares for us a plate of experiences. What kind of plate do you most enjoy?” The answer was easy. His daughter Sara put three cookies on her plate. Sometimes our days are “three cookie days,” but sometimes our plate has nothing but vegetables—twenty-four hours of celery, carrots, and squash. Perhaps God knows we need some strength, and though the portion may be hard to swallow, isn’t it for our own good? Or, some days the plate may be empty.
My life has not been everything I had thought it would be. I’ve had my share of disappointments, shattered dreams, broken relationships . . . and I know you have, too. So, what do we do now? How do we get through those rough days, weeks, months . . . those empty plate days?
The simple answer is to turn it over to God, although what is simple isn’t always easy. Simple means basic and not complex; easy means requiring little or no effort or difficulty. Trusting God is not a complicated idea, but sometimes keeping our faith in Him during tough times is not easy and requires more effort than we can muster on our own. It’s during those times when we need someone else to join with us as we look to God to help us get through our situation. Paul instructed us to carry each other’s burdens (Gal. 6:2), because he knew that life could weigh us down and we would need to help each other now and then. Turning to God in the middle of trying times is so much easier with the help of a close friend, a confidant who will cry with you, pray with you, give you words of encouragement, or whatever it is that you need.
So, call up a friend right now, join their faith with yours, and see what happens. Then once you have received the comfort you were looking for, pass it on and be that friend of faith for someone else. ~
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows.” (2 Corinthians 1:3-5, NIV)
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