The other day, I was playing around with my kids and I slipped. Unfortunately, I found myself flat on my back in the middle of my kitchen. It was not my finest moment. As we were all laughing hysterically, I looked up and to my horror, I found that under the lip of our countertop by the sink, it was black. Disgusting moldiness that I had never seen before was sitting right in front of me and I had no idea. I quickly pulled out the Ajax and scoured everything to death, but I was left grossed out.
My epiphany
After that incident, I had an epiphany. How many times have we been put in uncomfortable or less than desirable positions so that God could reveal something to us? I hate that this is even remotely true, but it is. Sometimes, what we perceive is anything but a gift, is exactly what we need.
And that brought me to think about our daughter. She is an incredible blessing to us and truly an amazing young lady. I know she’s ours, but she really is an outstanding individual. I remember a couple of years ago, when she found out that her top picks for college were not going to be options for her. It was crushing. It’s not fun to be rejected, especially when you think you had a good chance of getting in (which she had every reason to believe she did).
So she ended up taking a gap year and did some awesome things with a program in upstate NY. And now this year, she’s doing incredible at Cairn University, a small Christian college in Pennsylvania.
I share all of this because just like me being flat on my back was not exactly what I had in mind, our daughter going to Cairn was not exactly what she had in mind either. But that is precisely where the LORD wanted her.
God knows what He’s doing
Why you may ask? To show her things about herself that she never would have discovered otherwise. She is now playing college soccer as a goalie and is knocking it out of the ballpark. She hadn’t been on goal for 4 years, but instead, for various reasons, she played different positions on her high school team.
But Cairn needed a goalie, badly. REALLY badly. And there she was, extremely hesitant to play but hopeful/nervous to give it a try. It had been years, could she do a good job? Well, they were so desperate for a goalie that the year before, they used someone who played volleyball on goal, so she figured she could do better than that at least! And better than that, she most definitely did. She has been recognized twice by CSAC (Colonial States Athletic Conference) as defensive player of the week, and she was also chosen for CSAC all star 2nd teams. Not bad for a freshman.
Submissive heart
It’s amazing what the LORD does with a submissive heart. Sometimes it’s a reluctant, submissive heart. Other times it’s a confused, submissive heart. And still other times, it’s a crushed, submissive heart. Oh yeah, and then there’s the “you’re-on-your-back-because-you-slipped” submissive heart. But praise His name, He uses it all. All of it for His glory and our good.
He is so amazing, He can take our brokenness and turn it into something beautiful. We just have to trust that He knows what He’s doing. I know how hard that can be, but I also know that God has been shown faithful over and over and over again in our lives. This is just the latest act of His faithfulness.
It makes my heart burst to know that God loves our children more than I ever could. He loves them for His glory and their good. I am so thankful that our daughter’s hopes and dreams didn’t come to fruition. God didn’t want to give her what she thought was best. God wanted to give her what HE thought was best. And guess which one was the bigger blessing?
Trust Him
I know that so many of us are going through difficult times. And I want to encourage you to trust Him more. It’s rarely easy, but it is always worth it. Whether it’s a blessing He wants you to have or it’s revealing to you something you need to know (like nasty mold festering in your kitchen), God can use it all.
God is good. All the time. Amen?
