In moments when life seems messy, it’s normal to think that God is not with us.
But the hardships and confusions of life do not mean the absence of the Lord. I understood this in a beautiful way, even after going through difficulties.
Finding your place
“In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps.”
Proverbs 16:9
Many times, and I would venture to say that in most of them, God “mess up” the paths to then align them and allow us to understand them.
On a trip I took, on the road, I missed an entrance, and the return was far ahead. At the time, the feeling was stress for having made a mistake, that feeling of wasting a lot of time for a small mistake. But before returning, I found an amazing bakery on the way. Big, beautiful, and full of good options. I stopped, bought something to eat, and continued my journey happily.
I wouldn’t have known about that stop if I hadn’t missed the entrance. We know the path by walking. Therefore, it is good to allow yourself to miss an entry.
Sometimes your place is at the entrance, on the way, at the return point, or at the place of arrival. We have a certain destiny, but in the process, God places other locations, people, and situations to shape and guide us. We will never know where we will end up if we don’t walk.
Following the direction
“Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, ‘This is the way; walk in it.”
Isaiah 30:21
In some moments, God can divert our steps from the path we were following. In those moments we can feel like we are disconnected. He takes us away from places, takes us away from people, it seems like our dreams were postponed, and nothing makes sense anymore. And that’s when faith in Him comes in.
When we have full trust in God, no matter how messy everything seems, if we arrive at this place obeying the Lord’s direction, we do not despair because we know that He will provide.
If you are where you are because you obeyed God’s guidance, keep obeying, and you will see that everything will make sense, even if, for now, it doesn’t. I didn’t understand why this happened. I always thought that if God can do everything with a snap of His fingers, why, at certain moments, do I feel like I’m in a giant spider web? Why doesn’t He just do it?
But today I understand. Not straying from the right path is not always walking in a straight line but following the path He says.
The perfect way
“Teach me your way, Lord, that I may rely on your faithfulness; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name.”
Psalms 86:11
Sometimes, we are the ones who make a mess, and when we finally surrender everything into His hands, He needs to untangle that web little by little. In other moments, when we are obeying every direction and not doing anything by our own strength, but everything still seems messy, try to think of the “whole”…
Imagine how many things were set in motion in various places around the world, how many lives were impacted in small areas, so that you could be where you are today. Or how many pieces need to move for you to reach a certain place.
Life is made up of many parallel and simultaneous stories; the world does not revolve around us and our desires and goals. And that’s what impresses me most about God’s sovereignty. He moves the pieces like a dance.
I see life as a Rubik’s Cube. It doesn’t make sense when we’re watching someone solving it. It seems to get more and more messy and disorganized. And then, as time passes and there’s movement in the cube, the colors begin to align, and you begin to see more clearly.
Obedience leads us to take steps that don’t make sense until one day, after obeying so much, everything makes sense.
