Making the Most of It

Well, the year didn’t start off the way I planned. You know 2023 was a chaotic year for me. From the beginning of the year, where I was away from home for a month, while trying to sell a house and get ready for the biggest move of my life to the actual move and my current incomplete settling in of the new house (I’m still trying to finish the unpacking and get rid of stuff I no longer need), chaos has lived with me a bit. 

So, my plan was to kick off the new year with some order. I was going to finally get rid of all the stuff I’ve already collected to give away and finish unpacking the boxes or give the stuff away. If I can’t use it, someone should be, right?!? That was my full intention. The first week of the new year was to be a productive one. What is it they say about the best laid plans? The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry (Robert Burns). Well, they’re not wrong – or rather God often has plans that don’t align with ours (Isa 55:8). 

Since, I believe that God is always in control (Prov 16:9), I know that the things that happen in my life are designed to make me more and more like Jesus. So, when I got sick on Jan 1 and have been sick all week, preventing me from doing any of the things I planned to do, but forced me to rest and hydrate and such, I realized I really am not my own. I would have done differently under my own power. But I don’t have any. 

My will may be contrary to God’s (sin) and I can do some things that don’t line up with God’s will (sin), but I still have no real power of my own. I am weak and He is strong (2 Cor 12:8-10). When I recognize that I am nothing without Him (Gal 6:3) and that I need Him for everything, it brings some perspective that depending on my own strength is not only stupid but futile. I only breath because He allows it (Gen 2:7). My heart beats because He allows it. 

A God who created the universe (Gen 1) and everything in it, is far stronger than I can ever hope or dream to be. That also drives home that I have no need to worry about anything I am depending upon Him to handle (Phil 4:6-7). He is more than able to do exceedingly abundantly above all I can ask or imagine (Eph 3:20). 

If I do what I’m supposed to do and I trust Him to do what He said He would do, how can I worry? That has been a lesson while I’ve been sick in a new place (10 months) with some developing friendships and relationships (several offers of help during my sickness) and no doctor of note. God is still God and He still has me no matter what I face. So, I’m making the most of my situation knowing God has me even when I can’t see it. What about yours? Are you making the most of the situation you’re in and not being a victim of it? How you move forward is up to you.