Well, Christmas is over and by now, all that is left to do is clean up the mess. Did you ever notice that at times the boxes we unwrap are not always representative of exactly what is in that box?  At our house, there was a book in a snow cone machine box, some video games in a shoe box, and another in a tin box with some items the person already owned in it as well and another game in a protein bar box. I even heard of one dad who taped his kid’s video to a rake and then wrapped the bottom of the rake leaving the handle out. That same dad attached a pair of shoes under a stool and wrapped it up with the legs sticking out.  Some of these items might make the one getting them think they are getting one thing,  as they unwrap the gift, when in fact, after opening the gift they find they are getting something entirely different.

All this got me thinking……. Isn’t that a lot like life. Oh! we think our life is going to be going one way, and in fact, it turns out absolutely different. I would have never dreamed I would have ever homeschooled my kids, but God had a different plan. I never ever wanted to be a Pastor’s wife but God had a different plan. I never even dreamed of being a Director of an Assisted Living or working in any form of the Health Care field, after all, I hate needles! But, God had a different plan. All these adventures in my life were a detour of the way I thought my life was going to turn out. I never dreamed I’d live in Kansas but through divine circumstances, I have been here for almost 30yrs. (and I am only 29 yrs old) *wink-wink*

But these moments shouldn’t surprise us if we are truly following God because He has been doing this since time began. Time and time again we see God intervening in the lives of people in the Bible. Joseph told his brothers “You meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to . . . save many peoples lives” (Gen. 50:20). Here Joseph has been enslaved, several times and then ends up being the 2nd most powerful man in the country. Even after all he has been through, he isn’t angry or bitter, but he is able to stand back and look at situations and circumstances that brought him to where he was at that moment. He realizes, God used what his brothers meant for bad and turn it to good. I call that looking at things through God’s eyes. When we see people with the eyes of Christ and love them with Christ’s heart and serve them as Christ would that is a level of spiritual maturity that we all need to strive for.

See it is only when we take ourselves out of those certain situations of our life,  that we don’t understand, that aren’t going our way and just step back and say  “Okay! God, what are you doing here?” Because maybe, what you are perceiving as a problem may actually be the exact direction God is trying to take you.  because He is wanting to teach you that you can trust Him, and bring you to a closer relationship with Him.

Next week, I will be sharing about how I came to Kansas kicking and screaming! But for this week, let me challenge you to open up your heart and mind to understand exactly where God is taking you. Because, after all, if we are truly turning our lives over to God I am certain there is going to be a circumstance (or two) (okay, probably more) in your life, that you are gonna feel like is completely going the opposite directions you wanted them to go.  So remember,  But God…… Because He is in control. All we have to do is rest in Him. We need to trust the creator of the universe who knows our future because His ways are higher than our ways. We can trust the process God is taking us through and know, through it all. He is there!