Sometimes I feel like this photo. Absolutely futile. Young Luke Skywalker may have his trusty R2D2 on the back, but he's just on a pushbike with the bad guy of all bad guys, Darth Vader, right behind him on a flash motorbike!
Sometimes life leaves us with more questions than answers. I've spent the last few years learning a foreign language. I've put a lot of time, effort and energy into it. I've learned a lot, but the disheartening thing is that the more you know, the more you realize that you DON'T know!
I don't have half of the answers that I thought I did when I was younger. There are many, many things that I don't understand---terrible things the young me had no idea of. And I've seen more complex questions and know of things that seem to have no earthy answer: poverty, injustice, bad things happening to good people, sickness, hard things happening to me and those I love........
But I've learned even more than my younger self knew, that He is the ONLY one who has the answers. And that He is SO in control for our good. We can trust Him!
Lately I've been drawn back into that age old (at least from back in the early 90's!) game of computer solitaire. Sometimes it's good for dialing down my mind into a relaxed mode and gives me a bit of space to think while I play.
Not to toot my own horn, but I'm actually pretty good at the game! I win quite a bit more than I lose. I must confess, however, to hitting the 'hint' button at the bottom of my screen when I can't see a way to win and it all looks hopeless. I'm amazed at how many times even in my 'expertise' the computer shows me something that I've missed. Often all I need is a bit of help more expert than my own for that one move, and the whole game I thought I'd lost just unravels.
God is the real expert on life. The only one who is able to sort out our tangled webs. The One that knows that next move or step that will unravel our messes, even when we can't see it ourselves.
I've taken great comfort lately in realizing that the Apostle Paul was human, too. As I've read some of his letters I've read things like:
"In fact we expected to die. But as a result, we stopped relying on ourselves and learned to rely only on God, who raises the dead" ( 2 Cor. 1:9)
That's the reason for the unexplained things in our lives! I've found it's a wonderful, freeing thing to relinquish the 'game' or thing in life I'm trying to succeed at and find a deeper reliance on Him----who is totally in control of our lives even over the power of death.
He really KNOWS us. Everything about us.
To be known is to be loved. Ephesians 2:10 says we are His 'masterpiece.' (NLT) I love that picture! It speaks of the great care and time He takes with us. We can trust His movement in our lives. God wants us to depend on HIM. He's not limited by our limitations. God's going to do what He wants---but he invites us to join Him.
"Often God will call you beyond your limitations to do something that requires faith. It's not so much about what He wants you to do as what He wants to do IN you, as you depend on Him."
~Renee Swoop
So step out with confidence! He's in control. And "Is anything too hard for the Lord?" (Gen. 18:14a)
