Day 31: What if…

What if God always gave us what we wanted, when we wanted it?

What if.

What if God didn’t, in fact, know us better than we think we know ourselves…but simply indulged our every whim?

What if.

What if we didn’t have an awesome, big, sovereign {and at times, sneeky} God who has incredibly magnificent plans up his {almighty} sleeves that just can’t be thwarted despite our constantly wandering hearts and indulgent ways.  We may take a more colorful route than intended at times, but as long as we allow Him to take the wheel, nothing can thwart His plan for our lives {phew}.

By this time today, 10 years ago, I was engaged.  It was the morning of my parent’s 25 wedding anniversary. I was 18, excited about the new millennium, and about to make one devastatingly destructive decision. 

I had walked away from the Lord a few years earlier, choosing rather to meander down what became a slippery slope of self-loathing, lying, shoplifting and promiscuity.  My life was a mess.

My fiance and I had dated for 3 years, and seeing that felt like a lifetime for someone of our age {he was 5 years older than me}, the next logical step was to get married.  Right?

Wrong.

A few short months later, after he returned to South Africa, our relationship fizzled for the final time.  An email shortly after valentine’s day left me single, devastated, and paying for a ring I no longer cared to wear.

My world as I knew it began to crumble.

What if that’s where the story ended?

What if.

While God allowed me to me smashed to smithereens, he lovingly picked up all the pieces.  After all, it was the only way He could reconstruct the mess I had made of my life.

Today I celebrate 10 years of divine intervention, of growing, of learning to trust Him to take the painful shards of my past and recreate an exquisite mosaic of His goodness.  A trophy of His grace.

I’m learning that it’s all about surrendering our past to His resourceful hands, living today to the max, and trusting Him fully with our future.

Confidence in the sovereignty of God is crucial to our trusting Him. If there was a single event in all of the universe that could occur outside of God's sovereign control then we couldn’t really trust Him. His love may be infinite, but His power would be limited and His purposes could be thwarted…so we couldn’t fully trust Him.  I’m relieved that’s not the case.

But scripture clearly tells us otherwise:

In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps (Proverbs 16:9)

Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails (Proverbs 19:21)

There is no wisdom) no insight, no plan that can succeed against the Lord (Proverbs 21:30)

Nothing is so small or trivial that it escapes the attention of God's sovereign control; nothing is so great that it is beyond His power to control it. 

And you better believe He is faithful to use every little thing we surrender – including an ugly, messy past involving date rape and stealing – to His glory.

Aren’t you glad we can answer the many “what if’s” with a resounding “whatever!”?

I’m so thankful that I can rest in the knowledge that as long as I’m putting one foot in front of the other, despite not being able to see more than 5 feet ahead, the one who walks beside me knows exactly where He’s leading me. 

And it’s sure to be a stunning adventure, with an even more glorious destination! 

Care to join me?