In an instant, her world stops like a car racing into a light pole. Opening the unwanted door ushers her into a new room of the soul, the place where faith is tested, character is revealed. Like a child punished from playing, she stares from the window at others driving, working, dreaming. Wasn’t she just on the other side of this glass? This happens to other people, she thought. Brave men and women surround her; they are living what she fears the most. Frozen, she is trapped in a hidden world where the future is fleeting, measured and savored. Perhaps, she thinks, these are the people who really live, the ones who have learned to see a day from the perspective of borrowed time. She doesn’t want to be here, but she is.
The waiting room table is covered in pamphlets, brochures… “State of the Art Cancer Care” reads one. “The Importance of Diagnosis and Treatment” reads another.
Nothing happens by chance, she remembers, I am still on a mission for God wherever He leads me. Today and maybe even tomorrow and the next, this is her mission field. God’s promises begin to counsel her thoughts, a lifeline at a time like this:
“He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.”
– Isaiah 40:29
and then this one…
“Consider it a great joy, my brothers, whenever you experience various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. But endurance must do its complete work, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing.” –James 1:2-4
A “joy”–really? How, God? Why me?
And now, she has a choice to make.
Is God who He says He is? Is His word true?
She would soon take her greatest test, the one she had prepared a lifetime for, but always thought she would be exempt. Would she have the level of faith that she often assumed in times like these? Would she trust in God’s love above the doctor’s facts, knowing that He still had a plan in the midst of the pain? It was much easier telling others to trust God, but today, it was her turn.
“Mrs…. the doctor will see you now.”
Dear friend, are you, too, in that waiting room, where your greatest fears are battling your greatest faith? Are your current circumstances looking “half-empty” when God still sees them abundantly full? Has the enemy planted weeds in God’s beautiful landscape of your life?
What portrait of your situation are you seeing today? Are you looking at the facts or are you looking at God’s truth?
It is a fact that we will have adversity on this side of heaven; it is the truth that God has already made a plan to use our adversity for good. He is still in control even when we’re not.
Perspective–
the eternal ability to see, know, understand as God does, not as the world interprets.
“We know that in all things God works together for good, for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.” –Romans 8:28 This means that in every trial, God transforms our adversities, our “weeds” into beautiful flowers–meaningful, purposeful lives. “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” –Genesis 50:20
Will you receive these promises right now, whatever you are going through? Will you trust that God is up to something really big in the midst of the confusion? I believe you will.
She left the office on a mission, determined to make the most of this unexpected detour. The birds chirped, the wind blew; creation had come alive to her birthing senses. She was captivated with an eternal awareness of her purpose, a knowing that this “weed” was meant for more. No longer would she question how or why, but instead she would claim, it is well with my soul! The weeds that were once growing along the side of her road were suddenly popping up daisies–she had been given the gift of perspective.
And then the results came in–
Blessings! Michelle
Purposeful Education 