"When I think about the Lord ... It makes me wanna shout!"(Are my Pentecostal roots showing?)
As most of you know, I am currently unemployed. But, in the midst of that, I realize how greatly I have been blessed.
All too often people focus on what they do not have instead of what they do. The exact same event can happen to two people. One is crushed by it and becomes angry and bitter; the other presses through the pain or disappointment or disillusionment or grief or setback or whatever it may have been to become stronger in faith, more compassionate to others, and more grateful for that which (s)he does have. My prayer is that I always fall into the second category.
Yesterday, I celebrated my birthday alone. It could have been a very lonely day. But it wasn't. Not because I was with anyone; there was no one other than the Lord with me until I went to a monthly home fellowship meeting in the evening. And my day did not go as I had planned it. But my heart was so full of gratitude for all God has done for and provided for me that it didn't matter.
Sitting here unemployed as I turn 61 could be cause for depression or panic. But it's not. Because I know two things. 1) God will provide all my needs, and 2) God has a plan to take me into a good place.
While I had said many times over the years that God was source and not my job, when I was laid off in 2013, I knew I would quickly see how much I believed what I said. He proved Himself faithful to His word - over and over. And not just with respect to finances. As most of you know, I went through multiple health challenges (including cancer) during that period of unemployment which was extended due to them. He supplied exactly what I needed exactly when I needed it - be that money, someone to help with just the talent or ability needed, or the physical strength to get up and do what had to be done when my body was totally drained and aching in every way. He didn't always provide in the way I expected or through the person I would have expected; but He provided.
As I entered "verse 2" of the layoff song, I already KNEW, from experience, that God will provide all my needs - not necessarily all my wants, but definitely all my needs!
Secondly, He had a plan before I ever knew I was going to need it. Before I knew I was being laid off, He was already working on my behalf. Do I see it in the natural yet? No. But I am totally sure that the path to it is being prepared. And, whatever that plan is, where ever I go to work next, whether somewhere in the Milwaukee area, in Florida (yes!), or somewhere in between, He has a purpose in me being there. I KNOW He had purpose in bringing me to the Milwaukee area. And, "whether I stay or whether I go," I know there is purpose in it; it is not just happen stance.
When we truly KNOW that God has a plan, a purpose, and a destiny for our lives, then we can rest in knowing that nothing the enemy throws at us can prevent us from reaching it, if we respond correctly to it.
There are also some other things that have happened during this season of unemployment that have caused me to realize how truly blessed I am. This is already lengthy, so I will not go into all of them.
I will summarize it by saying, God has definitely brought me into a much better place than I ever dreamed of being in as I was growing up. For those of you who have known me long enough to have been in the home in which I was raised and known my family, you can understand and appreciate that much more than those who met me in Kansas or Wisconsin. And I know that His plans for me are to continue to prosper me, to give me a hope and a future, an expected end. (Jeremiah 29:11)
That reminds me of the lyrics from another song:
"He didn't bring us this far to leave us ... He didn't lift us up to let us down."I know He has not brought me this far to abandon me now. He is walking through this valley with me, just as He did in 2013-2014 and every other valley through which I have had to pass. This will only add to my testimony of His faithfulness and provision.
