Life's Like This — Sometimes the paths that God sets for our lives are not the shortest, most direct routes, or at least that is how it appears. Quite often, we want to get to our destination on our own time schedule rather than exercising the patience needed to arrive at our destination according to God's plan. Knowing God's plan for our lives and what blessings He has in store for us are questions that many of us seek to know the answers to. It would be nice if we could just give God a phone call, or meet Him for a cup of coffee to discuss questions we have and to learn all the details we need to live our lives fully and in accordance with His plans for us. But God does not work that way; He wants us to exercise faith and trust in HIs Word that whenever we come before Him in prayer, that He will hear us and answer the burning questions we have in His time and in a manner that He chooses. And He wants us to know that He has our back, that He is always looking over our shoulder, keeping an eye on the road ahead, and speaking to us through the Holy Spirit with words of comfort and guidance as we face the trials of life. If truth be told, most of us are not willing to wait on God. We want His blessings now, on our own time schedule, and in a manner or way that we choose.
I can look back over my life and easily see the restless path that I have followed. The path that I have followed has been filled with disappointments and heartaches. It has been that way because I have tried to impose my notion of what I thought was God's plan for me rather than exercising spiritual wisdom to wait on God. I have wanted to enjoy all the blessings that God could bestow on me, but have not always been willing to let Him work through me so that the fruit of His blessings would be revealed to me. And as a result, my path in life has been rocky and full of turmoil. And by my doing, I have missed out on many of God's blessings. It's always easier to complain about how life seems to hand us a raw deal, how nothing seems to go right in our lives. It's easy to get caught up in that mindset, one where all the goodness and joy in life seems to be out of our reach. We can choose to believe the lies we tell ourselves or we can reflect on God's word and realize that His blessings are and have been all around us, just waiting for us to claim. The best way for us to claim God's blessings is by being a blessing to those around us, by giving of ourselves to others, in whatever way we can. It doesn't have to be in monumental ways — simple acts of kindness that reveal God's love to those around us is a great way to start.
God's blessings won't be complete in our lives until we're willing to give what we receive, and we won't get to the destination we want to arrive at unless we actively pursue the steps needed to arrive there. For us to know God's plan for us and to receive His blessings, we need to, not only pray for His guidance, but to search our hearts for the gifts God has given to each of us and then to take them and use them to His glory by blessing those around us. To fully understand the nature of God's blessings and the magnitude of HIs love for us, we only need to turn to the Holy Scriptures. For it is there, in His Word, that all His blessings are revealed to us. But simply reading the scriptures will be fruitless in our lives unless we actively embrace the Godly principles His Word speaks of. As we live our lives, opportunities abound where we can be a blessing to others; where we can touch their hearts in a spirit of love, compassion, and understanding. People across our country and the globe are crying out in pain and suffering. People who are waiting on each of us to do our part to ease the circumstances of their lives that have led them into despair. We may find ourselves to be among those languishing in despair, unable to rise above the situations in life that consume our thoughts and cause us to have heavy hearts. We all need God's blessings. We all need the gifts of love of our fellow man. We need to know we matter, that someone cares, that we are not alone in this world without any hope for the present and the future. We need to know that God's blessings are real, that they are not just for a select few, but for every last one of us. And that is the challenge for all of us — to show others that God's blessings are real. That is God's plan for our lives: to reveal His love to the world around us, to demonstrate His love with unwavering devotion to His Word. And when we do that, everything will fall in place, perhaps not in a manner or time that we hope for, but in accordance with the one He has uniquely prepared for each of us. We just need to cling to our faith, trust that God is always present, that He is always true to His Word, and then prepare our hearts to receive and give His blessings.
Life's Like This 