My wife and I have been married for 16 years now, and it’s been good. Our personalities complement each other, we have lots of laughs, and of course, we’re still learning together, especially when it comes to parenting.
One thing that’s kind of funny about our relationship, though, is a scenario that my wife continually finds herself in, but often doesn’t anticipate. She, like many people, sometimes stands up too fast, stretches, and then gets lightheaded.
There have been numerous times in our marriage when I see it coming, but she doesn’t. In the past I’ve been brushing my teeth, puttering around in the kitchen, coming down the stairs, or doing something else, and I’ll hear her stand up and stretch. At that point I know I’ve got a few beats to get there in time to catch her when her vision tunnels or goes dark. Sometimes the stretch lasts long enough that the muscles steal all the blood from her head and she starts to slump mid-stretch.
She can handle it herself, of course. It’s not like she’s helpless and passes out if it happens when I’m not around. The point is that I see it coming and she doesn’t. Sometimes I know her better than she knows herself.
God’s like that too. He knows you better than you do. I think each of us probably believes we know what’s best for us, and sometimes we maybe even think we know better than God.
“God, why haven’t I won the lottery yet?” “Because if you did, it would destroy your life.”
Or maybe “God, I think you blew it. I should have gotten that job.” “I can see why you think that, but if you did, you’d be focusing your energy somewhere other than where I want you to focus it right now.”
You may have prayed “God, I’m still waiting for that spouse/child to come into my life.” “Yes I know, but I have you doing something more important at the moment.”
There are endless reasons why God doesn’t follow your timetable or path. I don’t know why He does some things in certain ways, but I know He knows us better than we know ourselves. As we go through our lives endlessly wondering why He chose to make us take detours or experience setbacks, it can be painful, but remember that in light of His intimate knowledge of us, there’s probably at least one purpose behind it, even if we don’t know what it is.
Lord, it’s not too bad to trust You with certain areas of my life, but it can be really hard to trust You with EVERY area of my life. I know You know me best; please help me to accept that Your ways are higher than my ways, that it’s intentional when you slow me down as I’m ready to run ahead, and that whatever happens today is part of the preparation for tomorrow. Thank you for blessing me the ways You have. In Your name, Amen.