Sometimes The Answer Is Time

 I am sitting in my car under the shade of a tree, drinking a coffee, and feeling discouraged.

Tired.

Hopeless.

Frustrated. 

Many negative adjectives will fit right now. 

Shaking my head, I wonder if certain things are really worth doing if they only cause negative adjective feelings. 

What answer can there be to what is stirring in my heart?

There doesn't seem to be one.

Except one - Time.

Oh, a hard one right now...Love.

Sometimes in the fight, time becomes the answer. Whether it is time to heal. Or time to mourn. Restore. Rest. Develop. Finish.

And love, love always is part of the answer.

When time is the answer it can be hard. Time passes so fast each day, except when something is on my heart and mind, then it seems to drag. The clock seems to go backward instead of forward. The future looks tiring. 

 My friend had heard that when we worry about the future we usually see it without God in it.

Hmmm - Seeing the future without God in it.

So what happens when I put God in my situation that has me troubled, tired, and discouraged and any other negative adjective?

Well to take that first step the Bible has a good verse...

Isaiah 26: 3-4
"You will keep in perfect peace all who trust on you,
all whose thoughts are fixed on you!"

So for one, just from this verse alone, PEACE happens. Not "just" peace, "perfect" peace.  I am sure there are others verses in the Bible that back this verse.

The problem isn't solved, but there is peace.

What about the problem?

Sometimes it does take dreaded time. There is no microwave fix in sight.

20 years ago I was in a very serious car accident that included a fatality. I got hurt pretty bad. Some of the injuries will still bother me to this day.

There was one particular physical thing from the accident that hung around and really bothered me. I had to eventually learn to live with it.

Then a year and a half ago I had a serious back injury. Then 7 months later I had shingles that messed up my foot and leg.

With the combination of the two I have had quite a bit of physical, chiropractic, and massage therapy. I have now added acupuncture.

One day during my acupuncture appointment, I was told that acupuncture could take care of the problem from 20 years ago!

I have slowly seen a tremendous difference. The rehab from the back injury and the shingles, led me to a healing from something that happened 20 years ago!

There is a time for everything. It tells us that in Ecclesiastics.

Do I want to wait 20 years for this issue to be solved? I will answer that with an emphatic NO! However, what if I cast it to Jesus and see what He will do with it? 1 Peter 5:7. Cast it to Him everyday. Cast it to Him every minute or second if I have to. Then fixate on Him instead of this issue. 

I wonder if the tiredness would go away? The frustration? Or will I learn to deal with it or will it be solved?

Starting a little over three years ago I had an issue that literally made me physically sick from the stress. The toxicity of the other person involved, literally seem to soak me like a shower with filthy, stinky water from the sewer, at almost every encounter.

Recently this very person is someone who supports me and cheers me on. Believe me I witnessed and lived a miracle. 

There are many people who said the same about me after I became a follower of Jesus Christ. There are some who actually expressed to me absolute amazement of the changes He did in me.

When I tell people my story they usually express disbelief that I have history like I do...why? Because God did such an amazing work in my life and still is everyday.

So why do I struggle to simply give heartwrenching, mind-boggling frustrating situations to Him? I chew and chew on them. I let them take over my thinking and stab at my heart.

Maybe this is a time to look at the faithful work God does in my life and those around me. Maybe I need to remember who He is and what He does.

MAYBE I need to put Him IN the situations of today and IN the future. Maybe I need to not only say look at what God did in the past. Maybe I need to start focusing and look at Him this day.

The situation is there but, look, look really hard, and push past the situation that is clouding my mind. See! See He is there! 

He is. 

He is in the future.

Can I rest in that?

I may struggle with that today, I may struggle with that tomorrow, I may have to sweat and push and pull to see past the situations to see Him each day for awhile, but I have a feeling someday I will be able to say, No Worries, God's got this. I will be able to see He is right here, in my past, in my present AND in my future.



Comments

Sister said…
Hope for strength in others
Very good read
June 24, 2022 at 8:50 AM
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