It Happens

It Happens 

by David Brenneman 

The Lord has a unique plan for your life—one that does not change according to unexpected circumstances. When you confront a situation that does not line up with your understanding of how God wants your life to proceed, you must stop and look to Him for direction. Sometimes He allows disappointments to occur so you will learn to rely on Him more fully—to walk by faith and not by sight. But never forget this: While disappointments are inevitable, discouragement is a choice. You should never allow the challenges that arise to steal your enthusiasm or confidence in Him. - From a Devotional by Dr. Charles Stanley on Life Principle #20 "Disappointments are inevitable, but discouragement is a choice".

I have to admit this one is a struggle for me to understand. 

I have several books by Dr. Stanley on the Life Principles as a whole and am struggling to really make sense of it.  

My reasons for my struggles are probably tied to how easy it has been to go straight from disappointment to discouragement.    I don't even have a speed bump in-between at times.  

I overlay these thoughts and feelings with my reading the book "A Shepherd's Perspective on Psalm 23".  

Then, thankfully, yet still hear "I trust in God, my Savior The one who will never fail He will never fail He will never fail" in my mind these days as disappointments mount in heaps to try to navigate in my life. 

Why write all this out in this way?  It goes with the territory of being up this early and writing whatever He puts on my mind to write about.  

I get overwhelmed at work and catching a break, more often than not, doesn't happen.  I can get home from work and there's things broke needing attention.  There's drama that unfolded during the day that I wasn't a part of.  There's incidents.  Wondering when I will get to breathe easy again. 

Then there's days where none of those things happened.  Then it returns.  

Remembering Scripture hasn't been my strong suit.  It's never been my ability to see a situation and know a verse to go to for it.  I have never been able to see situations from the perspective of a writer in the Bible. 

But...no matter what...He is faithful. 

No matter what...He hasn't let go of me.

No matter what...I can choose to focus on that verse from that song as a lifeline.  A rope to safety. 

Then there's Romans 8:28 "And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose."

In my mind yesterday this was rewritten.  "I am your God and I will cause all things to work together for your good because you love Me and because you are called according to My purpose.”.

Regardless of the ups and downs of life, in Christ, I have a purpose because I am a child of God and He loves me and I love Him.  

It's sometimes a struggle to leave the house for work.  It just is.  I do pray daily concerning a job change.  Yet in these times nothing has come up for that change.  It's a disappointment that's not quite yet a discouragement.  It threatens to be but isn't there yet. 

It's a struggle dealing with my physical limitations.  These have a greater impact on my mind because no matter where I am there these situations and issues are.  I am awake, they're back.  

Yet my hope isn't in me.  If I truly accept that I am His workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works that I might walk in them...then it follows that changes must happen to accomplish those things in me.  Therein lies a little hope. 

If I cling to Romans 8:28, especially when I personalize it, then there's more hope. 

When I read about the deep prayer relationship between Jesus and the Father and how He wants that for us...that helps too.

When I read of the great care for us as His sheep that He expressed in Psalms 23...there's some more hope. 

In yet another Life Principle...God doesn't require us to understand God's Will but we are to obey it.

I don't get to choose everything that I am going through.  I do get to choose how I respond to it. 

It's not always easy to respond in the right way...but it's worth it. 

Not every choice of obedience to God's Will is going to be met with understanding by those around us. 

When we know that we know that we know what it is that God's wanting of us, and we obey in it, don't expect those around you to understand.  What you are doing with God isn't what they're doing with God.  You are in your relationship with Jesus, they are in their relationship with Jesus.  Peter, Paul, Mark, Silas, Timothy, James, Luke, all these people all had a rich life in Christ that was their own personal relationship with Jesus.  Similar but different.  The Spirit worked mightily in their lives but did different things to grow them in Christ.  What I need isn't what you need.  What you need isn't what I need. 

Life does happen and choosing to turn my eyes to be upon Jesus is going to always be the right thing to do.  Remembering that indeed He’s been the fourth man in the fire time after time.  I trust in God, my Savior, the One who will never fail.  Trust in the Lord with all my heart and do not lean on my own understanding. In all my ways acknowledge Him and He will make my paths straight.  

Pour out my heart to Him at all times.  Life's going to happen.  Whether it's full blown persecutions or mere disappointments life's going to hurt some.  Paul said "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us." Romans 8:18.

When a shepherd has to difficult things to the sheep for the sheep’s own good the sheep don't always understand why.  Most of the time they don't have any understanding of why.  They only know that they trust their Shepherd.  

Read it that way. 

Trust in your Great Shepherd with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight. 

They've been days where I feel like I am trying to get out of a pit of gravel and every move upward is excruciating because I keep slipping and sliding.  But He leads me so I keep trying.  

Because I am loved by God and am called according to His purpose.  

All New American Standard Bible Scripture Excerpts used by permission. (C) 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by the Lockman Foundation. A corporation not for profit.