“The Lord will
fulfill his purpose for me; your love, O Lord, endures forever – do not abandon
the works of your hands.”
Psalm 138:8 (NIV)
It took me a few
minutes to calm my shaking fingers and get my courage up to open the email from
a children’s editor with a very well-known publishing company. I knew she was
responding to my proposal on my latest children’s book, a rhyming story about
creation.
“Thank you, Lord! Thank you so much!” I shouted the praise in my office. This was definitely a door opening for my passion for writing. I dared to dream big: traveling, television interviews, promoting this book plus my other writings, praising the Lord for what He was doing through each word.
A week went by followed by another and another. No emails with a contract attached. And yet I was not really discouraged because I knew this journey was being directed by the Lord. The book would be published, I was sure. And then the email came from the editor.
She loved the book and how the story was presented, she said. But the sales team had decided not to publish it. Thanks but no thanks. I read and re-read the email. Maybe I missed something when I read it so hurriedly. But no. It was a polite but firm no thank you. Wait a minute, God! I’ve known for years that this is the path you have wanted for me – writing and speaking. I am sure of it – 100% sure. And yet the answer is no?
I have no WOW answers. Only a belief and trust in a Father whose timing is not mine, but who fully intends to fulfill His purpose for me when – and only when – He is ready. You prayed about the new job that suddenly falls through, the relationship that falls apart, and the bottom falls out of your world. Answers do not come as you were confident they would. As you felt the Lord was directing. And you are wondering why.
There will temporary or permanent detours in our journey with the Lord. But His purpose stands firm. He will fulfill His work in our lives – even when we don’t understand. Trust the One whose love for us endures forever – even in detours.
R.A.P. it up . . .
Reflect
- Have
you ever felt the Lord directing you specifically and yet, when you
followed His direction, things turned out completely different than you
thought?
Apply
- Journal
the plans in your life that you were sure came from the Lord but did not
work out as you had thought. Next journal how they actually turned out.
- Write
down the blessings and lessons you learned in the detours. Thank the Lord
for His faithfulness.
Power
- Psalm
138:8 (NIV) “The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your love, O Lord,
endures forever – do not abandon the works of your hands.”
- Jeremiah
29:11 (NIV) “For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord,
‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a
future.”
- Philippians
1:6 (NIV) “. . . being confident of this, that he who began a good work in
you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”
- Psalm
27:14 (NIV) “Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the
Lord.”
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