The summer after I  graduated, walking to my car that morning, God, who I had no personal relationship with – because I had never given Him my life – spoke to me and told me I was about to meet “Mr. Right.” I didn’t know God……..but He knew me. 2 months later, I met my husband. 19 years later, our storm began. One of the very first questions that arose was, “Did I misunderstand God about him being Mr. Right? Because how could God pick a man for me that was going to be unfaithful?” Did the storm, the unfaithfulness, dishonesty, and disloyalty indicate in any way that God was not the one that spoke those words to me, 19 years prior?

2 months prior to my storm beginning, as new parents, we were spending family time together with our newborn, God’s presence filled the room, and I felt Him say, “Nothing will touch or destroy this.” The very next night, when my husband came home, laid on the bed next to us, and we had family time again, God came again and spoke the exact same message. A short time later, evil did visit us, and for 7 years, by all appearances, our marriage was being destroyed. I know my faith, trust, and even my love for my husband were shattered. So the question again……..was this an indication that it wasn’t God that spoke those words to me, two nights in a row?

IS THIS HOW IT WORKS?

We, as humans, tend to look at what is happening in our life and fail to compare it to the many examples that our Father has given us, in His Word, to help us understand HOW IT WORKS.

When He says, “Trust Me.” It doesn’t mean bad things are not going to happen. It means, “I am going to get you through this. I will use it to make our relationship stronger, and more intimate. I am going to use this to mature and strengthen you. Make you bolder and more confident. If you can trust Me, I will keep you as that tree planted by the stream that never runs dry. Trusting Me is going to teach you about Me, so you can know your identity, value and worth.”

When God told Hosea to go and pick a prostitute for a wife, and she left him……….did God’s Word teach us that Hosea misunderstood God and he had made a mistake, or that he, who was left to choose a wife, chose wrong? No, God’s Word teaches us that while Hosea did exactly what God told him to do, and things went horribly wrong, it was all foreseen and going according to God’s plan.

 

And this is not the only example. We have MANY examples in the Word of God, from Moses to Jesus. His Word teaches us that when  God promises us something and directs us toward something, we are guaranteed to come up against opposition, struggles, testing, and trials. Because….

THAT IS HOW IT WORKS!

Even if you pray for God’s choice of a spouse for you – one that is faithful, loyal, and trustworthy, just because God blesses you with something, doesn’t mean it won’t get tested by fire, or you won’t face trials and tribulations. It doesn’t even mean you won’t lose your blessing, because you failed to take care of it, or appreciate it, and that if you lose that blessing, you can’t get it back!

Remember, God’s Word tells us that His ways, His thoughts are much higher than ours and that we are to NOT lean on our own understanding, or else we are going to be misled and not see what God is actually doing in our life, because…….

The LORD of Hosts has sworn: “Surely, as I have planned, so will it be; as I have purposed, so will it stand. Isaiah 14:24

BECAUSE

The LORD is [unwaveringly] righteous in all His ways And gracious and kind in all His works. Psalm 145:17

If your priority is about the here and now, and you are shortsighted and narrowly focused on what is in front of you, while God is long-sighted and always and ever-focused on His priority of eternity, then whose plan is more important? Whose priority should prosper? 

If our whole ‘meaning of life” is to find our perfect match, raise children, be happy (content, secure, and prospering) but perish in the end, because we never knew Him as we were created to, doesn’t that indicate an unloving Father? 

So HIS ‘meaning of life’ – to find and choose Him, die to self, surrender and overcome the world’s darkness and deceitful ways, which is motivated to help us find our way back home to Him – shows and reveals a loving, caring, considerate Father, that is looking out for our best interest. You better believe God is going to do everything to ensure that HIS PLANS stand and our plans fail. When the desires of our hearts are led out of our blindness and selfishness and are not for our good as we think, our loving Father is going to work to change our desires, to match up with His. It’s painful, it’s long, it’s incredibly confusing at times, but that is HOW IT WORKS!

Trials and tests, suffering and tribulation, coming to a place where we are being pressed, persecuted, convicted, and questioning everything is a GOOD THING – when it is shaking the things out of us, that are interfering with God’s perfect plan and will for us. He seeks to make our priority and focus change, to reflect HIS PRIORITY AND FOCUS.