Dreams, pt. 8
It’s kind of fun to look back on situations in my life and see how God has orchestrated certain events. I had no idea that God was at work behind the scenes during certain events, but I can clearly see it now. I know that situation A led to situation B and if situation B didn’t happen then situation C never would’ve occurred…and so on. It gives me comfort to know this so that I can look to the future and know that God will be there. Maybe He’s orchestrating certain events right now to lead us to the next level. Actually, I should omit word maybe from the previous sentence because I know His hand is already at work, paving the path before us.
I guess through these past few years, I didn’t expect to be beat up so much. I didn’t expect the criticism. I didn’t expect the unrealistic expectations. I didn’t expect the gossip. I didn’t expect the rejection.
Actually, that’s not the full truth. I’ve watched my husband be beat up in ministry so much that I did expect some people to be unhappy, but not to the fullest extent. I guess my wishful thinking was that more people would embrace the cause and understand why we are doing what we are doing. I love what 1 Peter 4:12 says, “Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you.” It’s hard to ask “Why me?” when I read this verse. I was looking at this verse tonight and noticed that right before this passage there is reference to using our gifts to serve others. I’m thinking that maybe these passages of scripture are connected?
If I want perspective, the rejection I’ve experienced doesn’t even compare to the rejection that Jesus received while walking this globe as a man…and still receives today. I’m a big baby when I put it into perspective. After all, the biggest lesson learned through this whole process is that it’s not about me.
Every time I tried to take control, things got screwed up. Every time I put things into God’s hands…things worked out. I can’t even begin to tell you how many times I’ve said to Him, “O.K. I give up. If you want this to happen then you’re going to have to take care of it.” Of course, He always came through. There’s not one time when He hasn’t followed through. Not one.
Back to my story. God brought an amazing friend into my life. Her name is Deb and not only has she been a source of encouragement to me…she always knows when to kick me in the butt when I get too full of myself. I’ll give you an example of what I mean. In the midst of a particularly difficult time, I lost perspective. There was a situation that made me very angry. She kidnapped me one morning and took me out for coffee and let me vent. She listened as I said everything that I wanted to say. When I lost steam she told me to take out my Bible and read Romans 12. It was exactly the pill I needed to swallow in order to shift my focus back to where it needed to be. I was too focused on who was right and who was wrong and it was a big distraction.
God placed a burden for the women in our community on Deb’s hearts at around the same time that I was feeling a huge burden. I remember one night we were supposed to go to a meeting that was cancelled at the last minute. Since neither of us had other plans, we decided to still get together for coffee. It was that night that we both discovered the other’s heart. We both knew that there has got to be a better way to effectively reach women. The conversation continued weeks and even months later. It was during that time that we got some clarity on what we felt God was asking us to do in order to better reach out to women. Little did we know that the current women’s ministry director was getting ready to resign her position and that Deb would soon replace her. I think that God was preparing us for that ahead of time.
I’ll skip the details of how this all played out. It was a bit unconventional, but, it was definitely a God thing. All of a sudden, Deb was in the driver’s seat and we had a plan and a means to carry out that plan. We learned a new term during that year. Rhino Blasting: Charging ahead at 30 miles an hour with a visibility of only a few feet. I think that would describe us.
Doors started opening and we got the machine in motion. The changes were subtle at first. We were rhino blasting, but we were doing so on our tiptoes and nobody really noticed what was happening.
Ack…this is taking more time than I thought. It’s almost midnight. I’ll finish my story tomorrow. Hopefully, I’ll be able to get it all out and then lay it to rest. I feel as if I’m writing a eulogy. LOL!!!
