Do you have a plan for your life or are you “flying by the seat of your pants?” I’ve known people who have known all of their lives what they “want to be when they grow up.” They have everything all planned out. The problem is – life happens. And when those “unexpected joys” occur, there are more than one way to react. What do you do?
Some “throw up their hands” and quit. It’s kinda like those diets that you start on Monday. By Tuesday night, (if you made it that long!) you’ve already blown it “big time,” so . . . But, I’m so thankful that God allows “U-Turns.” We know that some members of the church in Corinth had been adulterers, thieves, idolaters, etc. . . (I Corinthians 6:9-10), because Paul said, “And such were some of you: but you are washed (by baptism), but you were sanctified (set apart and made pure), but you were justified (your guilt was taken away) in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God” (I Corinthians 6:11). But we know that “nothing can separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:39b) If you feel far from God, guess who moved?
When “everything” comes easy, then folks tend to think that it will always be so, but it’s not. Life happens. They blame others and are constantly trying to find a way to “scam the system.” It’s like they will never “have enough” and it’s not their fault! Are you guilty of searching so hard for that pot of gold, that you miss the beautiful colors of the rainbow? Are you so busy trying to “make a living,” that you have forgotten to “make a life? What example are you setting for your children? Do you just “talk the talk” or are you truly “walking the walk?”
Others react differently when those curveballs come. They learn from that “slap on the hand,” ask for forgiveness (if needed), and move on. They learn from their mistakes. We must not dwell on the past, but like Paul, we should “forget those things which are behind, and reach forth unto those things which are before, pressing toward the goal unto the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13b-14). We might look back fondly on the “good times,” but it is the “hard times” that made us who we are.
In all times, God has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Deuteronomy 31:8). Oh, how we are “simply blessed.” Courtney