WHEN LIFE IS DISAPPOINTING!
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?
When you subscribe to the blog, we will send you an e-mail when there are new updates on the site so you wouldn't miss them.
About the author
Blossom Turner is an award-winning novelist, and a free-lance writer published in Chicken Soup and Kernels of Hope anthologies, and former newspaper columnist on health and fitness. A Word Guild semi-finalist for Anna's Secret, Katherine's Arrangement, Amelia’s Heartsong, and a Word Guild winner for Best Romance for Lucinda’s Defender. She has found her home in the writing of historical fiction but is open to wherever God leads. The many 5-star reviews attest to the power of love and romance authentically woven into the Shenandoah Bride Series about five sisters and their five love stories.
Blossom lives in British Columbia, Canada, with her husband, David, of forty years and their dog Lacey named after Lacey Spring, Virginia, where this series takes place. A former businesswoman, personal trainer, and mother of two grown children she is now pursuing her lifelong dream of writing full-time. A hopeless romantic at heart, she believes all story should give the reader significant entertainment value. However, her writing embodies the struggles of real life. She infuses the reality of suffering with the hope of Christ to give a healthy dose of relatable encouragement to her reader. Her desire is to leave the reader with a yearning to live for Christ on a deeper level, or at the very least, create a hunger to seek for more.
Co-author Suzie Zanewhich
Suzie is a certified life coach, leader of emotional health, and resource specialist. She has found her niche as a soul coach.
Suzie finds purpose in empowering individuals to move towards growth, healing, and alignment with their authentic self. Suzie is driven by a calling to live authentically, as the person God created her to be, to reach her fullest potential and lead others to do the same. Her passion is to help others find meaning through discovering their strengths, gifts, personality, temperament and core values.
Suzie is a life-long learner, continuously immersing herself in new courses to learn more about human behaviour, relationships, psychology, child development, emotions, trauma and healing. Because of her craving to always learn more she has earned the title of resource specialist in the area of self-discovery.
Suzie Zanewich lives with her husband in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. She has a patchwork family of four grown children, two daughters, two sons and three granddaughters.
Comments 2
Guest - Cam
on Sunday, 07 July 2013 00:02
God promises no perfection in this life! Being a christian or any other person of God does not mean we have a magic force field around us shielding us from all that can/may be. Probably even quite the opposite since being a true 'person of God' or 'honest person' means to constantly seek truth and LEARNING. Learning does not come readily on our easiest days-that's my experience at least.
I find it helpful to remember that some people are in the midst of war as I write this comment to you and deal with my own struggles (which is what somehow brought me to your blog). In Somalia, people are choosing which child to leave by a tree to be subject to the elements along and which to take on a hot, food free, by foot journey to an unknown better place that may not even exist. Indeed, how many people across the globe would welcome the opportunity to even own/have the challenge of reorganizing a struggling or failing business? The answer is MANY!
Guest - Bonny
on Saturday, 20 September 2014 16:32
Hello it's me, I am also visiting this website regularly, this
web site is really nice and the viewers are
really sharing pleasant thoughts.