After a speaking engagement this past week, I have talked to numerous ladies about this very thing - huge life disappointments.
I too am currently in the midst of a big disappointment. After a number of years of my husband looking for work or a new business, we finally jumped in. The business we bought has turned out to be all consuming. There are major problems to fix. What we were told, is not what we were sold. Even with us both working six days a week and much longer than your average eight-hour day, we feel like it is one step forward and two back. Day after day we find a new hurdle to leap… broken down equipment everywhere. A computer system older than dirt. Vehicles that need major repairs. Inventory nightmares and a roof that leaks. Longtime staff that are over-whelmed and over-worked, and new staff that just can’t learn fast enough due to the complexities of this type of business. We have indeed encountered much more than we bargained for.
After praying for years asking God for wisdom and not wanting to make a mistake, we are left asking why? Why such a big disappointment??? Hard work does not scare us, but this is insane.
Honestly, it has made my husband ask, does God care about the details of our life beyond salvation?
And after listening to the ladies and their stories this week, we can all ask? Does God care about the stress at work? Does He care about depression? Does He care that a husband can’t find a job? Does He care about a wife having to take on the full responsibility of a household, financially, spiritually and raise the kids to boot? Does He care about church leaders that fail congregations? Does He care about abandonment, infidelity, and marriages gone wrong? Does He care about health challenges or wayward children? Does He care?
MY ANSWER!
I will defer not to my wisdom, but to the word of God.
As I pondered the why of life's complexities, God spoke to me through James 1:2-5…
2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.
Consider it pure joy. What?
And God, why do I need my faith tested?
Ahhhhh….to make me mature, complete, not lacking anything. How wonderful that sounds, but how hard the journey toward maturity.
However…
I am not left alone in this trial. God encourages me to ask for WISDOM each new day. It is not enough that I asked yesterday, I must seek daily. Kinda like that manna in the desert, just enough for the day at hand.
Did God let my husband and I down by leading us into this business, especially after we prayed for wisdom? No, He is forcing us to lean-in and lean on-Him. We would surely crumble otherwise. We must depend upon His strength and as we press in, we grow, as we grow, we mature.
So dear friend, lean into God…and lean on Him. You will find strength for today and hope for tomorrow. Also, keep in mind this one pure joy...you are storing up treasures in heaven that will endure for eternity. Not such a bad trade-off, is it?