Lean Not

Focus Scriptures: Proverbs 3:5-6, Isaiah 55:8-9, Romans 8:28, Book of Job

My husband and I were talking the other night about the mysterious ways that the Lord does things. About how He doesn’t intervene to prevent certain things from happening. And how the phrase “God allowed it to happen” can be misinterpreted and misused. Our conversation went on for a bit, which I guess it would being that no one can fully comprehend the Lord and His ways. We don’t love Him and serve Him only if we understand Him or our circumstances, after all His word says to not lean on our own understanding. Our understanding is limited and causes us to misplace our trust. So, we love and serve our God because He understands and He is always good.

Let’s look at Job. I always think poor Job was just out minding His business when the Lord gave the enemy permission to mess with his life. Some of his children died, his livestock was killed, he was inflicted with physical ailments, just so many things that the enemy did that Job did not understand. But the Lord knew. He knew that although Job may question the situation, he wouldn’t turn away from following Him. God knew that no matter how tumultuous the circumstances got, Job would still love Him. And the Lord was using this whole thing to show the enemy just that. Job was not going to be moved. And in the end the Lord restored Job’s life, more than what he had before.

Now I will not sit here and say that I have gone through as much as Job did, but I have gone through many difficult situations. When I was about 2 and a half years old I was severely burned on the right side of my face that has left a permanent scar. I was in the hospital for 6 weeks and my mom was told that my face would droop because of the nerve damage I had, but my mama prayed over me for the Lord to prevent that and He did. For most of my child and teen life the question, “what happened to your face?” was what I heard a lot. I hated it. I tried my best to cover the right side of my face. This burn scar affected my life a lot and I remember I would pray constantly for the Lord to remove it, but I still have it to this day. And the Lord has used this particular situation for my good. It has become part of my testimony. From childhood to now I have faced many challenges, in the physical and internal. 

I know many of you can say the same about your life. And many of us have gone around in circles trying to understand why something was happening. Why didn’t God do this or that? Why didn’t He heal, change, deliver, open, close, and so on? I could never answer those questions. And to be honest, He may never answer some of those questions either. Not out of cruelty, but maybe because it goes beyond just one person. Or maybe because it would have lead down a path away from Him. No one can truly know. But He does. He knows and understands. And never forget, He causes everything to work together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose for them.

As always,

Be pretty. Be you.

You are always loved.