God has a plan beyond the reality you see today. He has a purpose specifically for you that reaches beyond the circumstances of this season. Beyond this pain, beyond this struggle, beyond this uncertainty, God has goodness for you.
The enemy plays in the darkness of your uncertainties. Uncertainties that ask how much longer will I have to wait … how much more can I take … why is this happening to me … how will this ever be okay again? But remember my friends, we can boldly step into the unknown with our all-knowing God.
You don’t have to be certain of timing. You don’t have to be certain of details. You may never know how and when until one day you’re standing in a new reality where you see with your own eyes this new, purpose-filled season of your life. Make friends with the uncertainty on the way there.
Paul wrote in Philippians 1:6 “And I am CERTAIN that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns,” and you can now claim it as your personal truth. In a world filled with uncertainties, be certain of this … GOD’S NOT DONE HERE.
God sees you and he is working all things together for good. His eye is on you. He has heard your prayers. He is moved by your petitions. AND HE IS WORKING. Let all the uncertainties remain uncertain because the greatest of all things is absolutely CERTAIN: GOD IS AT WORK.
When everything is unfolding as you planned, it’s actually hard to see God at work. It’s easy to assume these good times are the harvest of all those good seeds you’ve been planting. We’re quick to even say, I deserve this. My hard work, my persistence, my will-power earned me this. UNTIL IT ALL STOPS WORKING. THEN WHAT?
Have you ever been there? When what worked before stops working. When you’re humbled to realize the absolute truth that without God’s mighty hand in it all, girl, you’re not getting anywhere. If it worked before, if it was good, it was always because of God. You never did it on your own.
And this is where our roll is slowed so we can once again see God at work in everything. Yes, he works in the hardship. He works in the delay. He works in the no just as much as he works in the yes. And he is all up in your current circumstances working to bring you to to a destiny better than you could have ever worked out on your own.
This past weekend at our BIG Life Retreat in Tennessee, we had a hiking adventure day planned. Split up into 4 cars, we would drive through the Smoky Mountain National Park which is in full blown fall color, park at the trailead of Grotto Falls and hike together to the waterfall. That was the plan … until it all fell apart.
I was in the lead car with 4 other girls and because of traffic, we ended up about 15 minutes ahead of the other cars. As we drove through the National Park on a one way road, we quickly realized it was absolutely packed and there were no parking places anywhere. Like AT ALL. Not for one car, let alone all 4 of our cars carrying the 23 of us.
So, our only choice became to keep driving through the park and skip our planned hike to the waterfall. I sent out a text to everyone letting them know we would meet at the end and make other plans for our hike and picnic. BUT … no one had cell service. So now we’re all split up.
My car finally finds a parking spot toward the end of the road, several miles from our original destination, and we stopped, thinking we would see our other cars coming through to regroup. But hours passed, and we still don’t see the rest of our group.
So, here’s my car with just 5 of us at a totally random place in this massive National Park, walking down by the river, and a woman and her family see our retreat shirts. She asked if BIG Life was there right now.