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| (c) Katy Collins Photography |
By Karen Adams
The other day as we were driving to visit our son, daughter-in-law and grandchildren on the east side of town, I was shown by God the most beautiful visual of His love for us!
Our daughter and our other set of grandchildren (Dave and I are so blessed!) went with us.We were all looking forward to seeing family and also giving the little ones a chance to get together and play. As we were driving, Lacey was in her car seat and she started squirming. But the squirming wasn’t all she had in mind! Her squirming turned into a full-blown screaming and crying meltdown. She wanted out of that seat so badly. My daughter, who was sitting right next to her, comforted Lacey the best she could. However, there was just no way she was going to give in and take Lacey out of that car seat. My daughter held her little hand and tried to comfort her but she also knew that being in her car seat, no matter how uncomfortable and unhappy Lacey was, was what was best for her! She knew by keeping her in that car seat she would reach her destination safely and as planned. I could see in my daughter’s eyes how much love and compassion she had for her little one , but she knew what was best. Lacey, of course, did not understand. When Lacey finally realized she was not going to get out of the car seat, she surrendered and cried herself to sleep.
Isn’t that just like us at times?
We may have circumstances in our lives that we are not happy about- situations that can be downright scary or perplexing .We just don’t understand it! It could be our health, our finances, our relationships, any number of hardships we may be going through. We cry out to God and we wonder why He is not there, why He is not listening and why He won’t get us out of the situation. Why Lord do we have to go through this and where are You??
Yet know this- God hasn’t left us! His compassion and love are far greater than we will ever know. He tells us over and over that He will take care of us and He will protect us. Our part is to be still and let Him work. We just need to remember who He is, trust Him, and have faith in our God who loves us so much. He sent His son to die for us instead of condemning us to a life separated from Him forever. He is always taking care of us, and doing it far better than we would ever be able to do ourselves.
Although we cannot see God beside us, He is the there. He is watching, listening, and comforting us. He knows exactly what we are going through. Many times it is to sanctify us. He wants us to learn to trust Him through the rough times. As we grow closer to Him, we become more like Him.We put our faith and trust in Him and surrender. We practice trusting and knowing He is there, believing that He will see us through our circumstances in order that we arrive according to His plan for us in our lives.
He tells us over and over that He will take care of us and protect us. Our part is to believe, trust and have faith. Our majestic, glorious Father will do the rest. We need only obey.
“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9