The Grace Journal : life

Life is hard. There is no denying it.

We travel this road of life doing our best to follow the "right" path and do the "right" thing, but what happens when we don't? What happens when we get off on the wrong exit? Are we forever stuck where we don't want to be?

I was thinking about that today while driving home from the grocery store (my kids are all in school or else deep thoughts would not have been occurring. LOL)

I had stopped to get gas and wondered if there was a different way to get to my house from this particular gas station and I thought "but what if I get lost?" and immediately the next thought was "oh...mapquest can just reroute me."

As I got back in my car, I kept thinking of that idea and how dependent we are on technology to get us where we need to be (hello...does any one even OWN a paper map anymore!?)

And then...I had this thought:

God is our Mapquest. His perfect will is the highway is paved with the perfect plans and shined down upon by the perfect weather.

However, life is not perfect. We are human. There will always been things and people that will cause us to exit.

(1) Sin.

The obvious first reason is just flat our bad choices. We sleep with that girl/boy we barely know. We click on that link to that website that we know we shouldn't. We return that text to someone who isn't our spouse. The list goes on and on.

BUT...your are not alone. Romans 3:23 says "for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." The difference being...what do you do once you get off the highway?

Do you acknowledge "I missed up." and get right back on the highway? OR Do you make that right turn and keep going...allowing yourself to get further and further from the highway.

(2) People

There will always be people who use their freewill to mess with your journey. Their choices will force your off an exit you never thought your would be on. Your spouse comes home and surprises you with divorce papers. Someone makes the choice to drink and drive and you or someone you love becomes the victim. Someone steals your identity and ruins your excellent credit.

NONE of these are your fault, but they still cause us to exit.

Some exits are short because circumstances are easily fixed...like when you realize "oh wait...my exit is the next one" and you get right back on the highway.

Some are a little longer...like when you get off on the wrong exit, make a right turn, and end up on some crazy detour through Timbuktu before joyously finally seeing the highway sign again.

BUT...just because it's long doesn't always mean it can't be beautiful. Have you ever taken a wrong turn and although you're stressed out, you look around and see just acres and acres of beautiful wheat fields blowing in the breeze? Or passed by a crystal lake and seen the birds diving for fish? Or stopped at a hole in the wall restaurant for directions and found the BEST apple pie you have ever eaten?

Sometimes we just have to make the best of an exit until God is able to turn our car back to the highway.

(3) Outside Circumstances

No one wakes up one morning and says "Today...I'm going to get cancer." or "Today...I choose to be infertile." or "Today...I choose to have my house burnt the ground."

There will always be things in life that we don't understand. That is where faith comes in to play.

The very definition of faith is spelled out in Verse 1 of Hebrews 11 "Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence not seen."

Even though you don't SEE evidence of the scripture on healing that says "who [God] forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases" {Psalm 103:3} or 1 Peter 2:24 "by his stripes your are healed" it doesn't mean that healing does not exist. It is just an exit.

In God's perfect will...there is not sickness or headache. It is just that...perfect.

HOWEVER...we live in a fallen world...with fallen people and fallen experiences.

BUT...here's the good news...Jeremiah 29:11-13 says God has "plans" for us. Plural. As in more than one.

I clicked through almost 40 version of the bible looking at this scripture and even though some said "thoughts" and some said "plans" one thing was the same...they all were plural forms of the word.

GOD HAS PLANS.

And even better...if you read the whole scripture is says 11 For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. 12 In those days when you pray, I will listen.13 If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me.

Those PLANS...all of them? THEY ARE GOOD! No plan that is God's is second best. Romans 8:28 says "All things work for my good."

Couple that with the multiple PLANS he has for you and that tells me that no matter what...even the bad exits can be worked for your good and the good of those around you.

Exits will happen in life. BUT God has so many plans to always help guide you back to his perfect will for you.

The question is...will you allow him to get you back to the highway...or do you choose to stay on the exit?

Until next time.

KERI

There's a Bird on my Window

There's a bird on my window

Fighting to get in

He jumps and flutters

And struggles against the pane

What is he searching for?

What does he need?

Why does he beat his breast

Against the glass?

Does he want what I have?

Four walls, warmth, and food?

Does it look better

From the outside looking in?

But doesn't he know

Doesn't he understand

On the outside he is free

With wings to fly anywhere?

In here, he would be a prisoner

In here, he would be caged.

He is where is should be

If he just chose to see it.

See this little guy? This is the second morning he has spent on my bedroom window. He jumps and throws himself against the glass, before resting a moment and then trying again.

Staring at him for the last couple of days gave me this thought: Why Am I like this bird?

Throwing myself against the pane of expectations and dreams and hopes. All I am doing is hurting myself and wasting time looking through a window to a place that is not meant for me, while ignoring the whole world I have on my side of the glass.

This bird has wings...he could fly anywhere. Be with other birds. Eat worm. Find berries. Find love. Start a family.

But instead....he is painfully beating himself against the window...striving to be in a place that once he was there...would only be a cage and he would lose the ability to fly the skies of the world.

Why are we like that sometimes? We throw ourselves against the window pane of success or praise or admiration or passion or acceptance...not realizing that once we got there..we are trapped in a cage of our own doing. We lose our ability to fly...to be free...to see the world through God's eyes.

Today...you and I can choose...freedom or captivity...joy or sorrow...life or death.

Because...you see...if this little bird continues to make this choice to try to enter my house through this window...to strive for something that is not meant for him...HE WILL DIE. Or at the very least, become malnourished to the point where he no longer has the strength to hold on and HE WILL FALL.

We are the same...in the end...it is either life or death. We choose...relationships live or die...our spirit lives or dies...our joy lives or dies...just by where we CHOOSE to keep our focus....

looking in the window of someone else's house or looking into the vast open world that is our own life.

Choose Carefully. Choose Daily. Choose Life.

XOXO,

KERI