I celebrate my birthday this week, and I’m excited about it. I love my birthdays.
Two years ago, exactly around this time, I didn’t think I had much to celebrate. My life felt like it was falling a part. I had been struggling in many parts of my life, which is unusual. Usually, even when one major thing wasn’t working, I could rely on the other aspects and be encouraged. I hadn’t even made plans to go out that day. I’m a very private person, so at that time, I wasn’t sharing much with anyone – not even my mom, who I am very close to (sorry Mom). I felt alone and frustrated. As I was getting off the train that day, my girlfriend saw me and asked me what I was going to do to celebrate, and I told her I was going home to do nothing. She said absolutely not. She was taking me out to dinner. My friend, to this day, I thank you for that very kind gesture. You will never know what such an act meant to me.
A few weeks before that, I had cried out to God (I found a note with the exact date that I had written it). Not even a week later, I felt like I had suffered a major loss in my life. And it hurt. Badly. But I knew it was the right outcome – as hard as it was to admit. There were also other things I was struggling through at that time – but within the span of a few months after, I felt like my life had turned around. By no means perfect, but I felt like it was starting to turn around.
By the way, I found out a few months ago, one of my close friends had written an extensive prayer almost the same date as mine crying out to God on my behalf. Thank you my sister in Christ.
It’s now two years later, and what I thought was falling apart, I can clearly look back and see that God was putting things into place to move me to the next level of my journey. There were things in my life that I needed to let go of, before He could use me the way He saw fit. I guess this is why they say “hindsight is 20/20”.
Friends, sometimes we cannot see how our life is progressing. But once you let God take the lead, you have to let go and submit to His will. And my other advice is: have friends who will go to God on your behalf – even when you don’t know it. These are the things that will strengthen you, even when you do not know how you are making it through – it is by the prayers of others. Thank you to those who keep me in your prayers.
Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for the people who You have strategically placed in my life. Thank you for shaking my life up so that I can really see what is important, and learning more and more that I can trust you with everything – even when I cannot see the end result. Help me to continue to let go of things that I have no control over, because only then will You be able to step in fully.