The Way It Ought to Go

We all have our ideas, assumptions, standards and blueprints about how we think life ought to “play out.” Though we may not want to admit to ourselves or to anyone else, we all want life to go according to how we think it ought to go. 

But, I have found that when I bump up against circumstances that are beyond my control then I am forced to reconsider what I once believed and perhaps even relinquish one of my ideas on how I think life ought to be going for me. 

My husband was one of those people who helped me to abandon a particular idea I brought into our marriage. Where this idea originated from I cannot tell you. All I know is that I assumed that because we were both believers and followers of Jesus, we’d quickly and easily walk harmoniously in our marriage. Not so. 

My husband and I have many differing opinions and  though I’ve at times prayed heartily for him to conform his thoughts to mine, God has never once answered that prayer. Instead, I am shown how to live in harmony with those differences.  

Another misnomer I used to hold dear was the idea that because I was a believer, I’d be spared from distresses, troubles and challenges. Here again, I was wrong. 

Sadness and grief afflicts the heart of any mother who loses a child whether by death or estrangement. Knots in the umbilical cords of babies that end their life happen in one of every hundred pregnancies. I was one of those. Along with the one in every 100 stillbirths caused by a knot in the umbilical cord, I add to the statistic that 25% of American adults live with an active family estrangement.

Pain affects us all; believers as well as unbelievers. 

The Way it Goes

Long ago, when I started my journey of faith, someone should have shown me the verse in the gospel of John that states; “You will find trouble in the world—but, never lose heart, I have defeated the world!”

But now that I am aware of that verse, the words encourage me that while I am in the very midst of my troubles, God reminds me that trouble does not have the last say so in my life. Yes, vexations are a guarantee in this world’s system, but we are also guaranteed that God is alongside us. We are never alone, and we are never without support. The pain, discomfort, restlessness and doubts we feel here on earth, do not follow us to heaven. 

Why Bother?

Why bother being of good cheer now? Remember, when life does not go according to our plan, refuses to align with how we want things to go, or disappoints us in great ways, life is actually going along with what is guaranteed; we will have tribulations. But, knowing that God already knows how I feel and is with me in the very midst of it all, dissipates the cloud of doom and gloom.