Waiting During the Unraveling

Today I welcome guest blogger Karen Morerod to my site. Karen has her own blog at www.karenmorerod.wordpress.com where she writes about faith 24/7.

Unraveling. What’s falling apart in your life right now? Is it coming apart thread by thread? Or is it more like a quick, fast rip that’s left a huge hole?

Maybe it doesn’t matter. It just hurts – and leaves you vulnerable to bitterness, hopelessness, anger, negativity or maybe depression. You want to hold on to your faith. You want to believe God is going to work on your behalf. But the truth is, you can’t see Him doing anything. You want to shout, “God, what are you doing?”

And this is life in the waiting room.

But what if instead of asking God what He’s doing, we take a quick assessment of what we’re doing in this waiting room of life. Maybe we could ask ourselves questions like:

Am I being obedient in all areas of my life? I’m not suggesting that our current problems are because of sin in our lives; but it’s worth checking into. Are we harboring unforgiveness or resentment? Are we treating others with grace and love? Are we doing what God has already asked us to do so He can complete His work? God desires to work in us, but our cooperation and obedience is part of the plan.

Can I still acknowledge God is in control? When things aren’t happening, it’s easy to wonder just who is in control. But part of following Jesus is surrendering to God’s ways and timing. If we fail for even a nanosecond to remember that God is in control, it’s tempting to create a contingency plan and take things into our own hands. For me, it’s always been comforting to know that someone other than me is in control of life on planet Earth.

Am I praising God – in spite of my circumstances? When I Thessalonians 5:18 says, “Be thankful in all circumstances,” it doesn’t say, “Be thankful for all circumstances.”

In fact, it’s more like, “In spite of all the unraveling going on and the sterile waiting room, go ahead and thank God.”

We’re not going through life without some thread-bare moments. Life is going to unravel. But that’s when we remember He’s proven Himself faithful in the past, and He promises to always be with us.