When Hope Leads To Disappointment

Good morning…

“I guide you in the way of wisdom and lead you along straight paths,” begins the devotional my friend texted me in a screenshot on the day she received her difficult news. “I know how confused you sometimes feel – and how you long to find your way forward. You have tried many different things; you have been so hopeful at times. Yet your hope-filled paths have led to disappointment. I want you to know that I fully understand how hard your journey has been. I also assure you that I can bring good out of every bit of it.”

“This is the way of wisdom: trusting Me no matter what happens in your life. It is through trust that you follow Me along the right path. There are many things that seem random or wrong as you go along your journey. Yet I am able to fit them all into a comprehensive plan for good – My Master Plan. So don’t be fooled by the way things appear at a given point in time. You are looking at only a very small piece of a massive big picture. From your limited perspective, your journey may be confusing, with puzzling twists and turns. However, from My limitless, big-picture perspective. I am indeed leading you along straight paths.” (Sarah Young’s Jesus Today, 22)

“Wow,” I replied. “The timing of this message is so personally perfect. God is speaking in surround sound, my dear. How well are we listening?”

“I am continuing to listen and allowing him to construct this new journey,” she mused. “It is not a journey of pot holes and health crisis but one of love, companionship, and opportunities. I am letting him repack my suitcase and direct the trip. I feel a bit imprisoned, but my space will be transformed into a space of simple beauty. Of that I am sure.”

“Of that I am sure too,” I confirmed. “I am so grateful to journey with you, heart in hand, lifting you up and giving you away to God, again and again and again.”

…Sue…