She sits alone in her hospital room, new babe at her breast as tears roll silently down her cheek. It wasn’t supposed to be like this.
He hangs his head in his hands after he hangs up the phone. He didn’t get the job. The one that was so perfect for him. For his family. I don’t understand…I was perfect for that job.
The woman in the power suit splashes her face with water and fixes her makeup. This strong, capable woman still raw from the verbal beating she just received. Why does she have to be so abrasive? Can’t she see we’re on the same team?
A young couple sits in silence on the couch, stunned by the news they cannot buy the house of their dreams. It was the perfect house, perfect location, perfect price and yet they were turned down. We thought that was the place we were Meant to be. How did this happen?
Your breath is sucked from you chest. Your sense of purpose, once so strong and resolute now barely hangs by a thread. The road that was so clearly laid before your feet now seems hidden in the mist and shadows and your steps are shaky at best.
What do you do when the last thing you knew is no longer? When the One thing you were meant to do seems impossible. Broken. Hidden. The task is too great, your strength too weak.
Yet somehow you know the end-goal hasn’t changed. It’s never changed. You are still Meant to do that thing, you just don’t see how.
Can I encourage you in one thing?
Don’t give up. Don’t get discouraged. Just because there are challenges, obstacles, sand-paper-people at every turn doesn’t mean you should stop. Don’t let the hard times be for nothing – let them be redeemed for Something much greater.
In this world of comfort, ease and quick fixes, we’ve come to believe the lie that if it’s hard, it’s wrong. We think if it’s something we are meant to do that it will be easy, safe, predictable.
But can I just suggest that if we quit when the going gets tough that the tough times are for naught? Let the pain you have walked through be cultivated into beauty. Let the mire and dung that has muddied your steps for so long be used as fodder for a glorious blooming beyond comprehension.
And when others see the beauty that radiates from you, share your story from ashes to glory. And with that you sow a new generation of blossoms in the heart of those who receive it.