I came across this quote and thought, “How true!” Perhaps it reveals a glass half-empty philosophy or the belief in Murphy’s Law, “If anything can go wrong, it will.”
Even so, the quote seems to capture the narrative of my life whether it was an unexpected move, a door closing to a ministry where I believed God called me, or in my everyday schedule when a day set aside for writing turned into listening to and praying for someone else.
Reminder to self: God is the author and perfecter of my faith. He is also the writer of my life story. When life happens as I imagined, I have the illusion of being in control, but when things don’t go as planned, the truth sinks in. I am not in control. God is ruling and reigning over all. Then I have a choice either to become anxious or to trust God as He re-writes my story.
In the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, between the Southern and Northern Hemispheres, exists an area called the doldrums. In the days of sailing, it was a dangerous location because of the absence of trade winds which could cause a ship to be stuck for weeks without any movement or progress.
Everyone wants to look good doing the hard things. Like the Renaissance artist who paints seemingly effortlessly, I wish living out my faith looked like that. But it doesn’t. I am more of a sweaty creative. I think I understand what the end product of glorifying God should look like so I zealously begin. I earnestly believe I am listening to God and following Him, but life seems so messy. I cry out for more of His wisdom and keep following Him as best as this dark path allows, but still this is not easy and by no means effortless. I have lots of questions for God – most of them starting with why or when. I beg Him to show me what to do and how to do it to make my life a beautiful mural with all the colors and proportions just right so it will best showcase His glory. Still my life does not look like what I think a faithful follower of Jesus “should” be. How can there be any beauty in all this struggle? At times I get angry at God but like Jacob I am not letting go of Him until he blesses me, like Peter I have nowhere else to go. Eventually, I cease striving and relinquish my limited vision to His perfect design. After all, since God is the master Artist and I am His workmanship, He alone decides how to best manifest His glory. Who am I, as the clay, to resist the Potter’s hand?
Poiema by Lynn 