Have you ever walked through a valley with many shadows, perhaps where you feel dead to your dreams? Have you ever traveled through the desert places, thirsty for some reprieve, some oasis to give you shelter from the blistering heat of a hard life? Sometimes in life, I look up and don’t know why I am where I am, but I feel like surely God has more for me. Surely this isn’t where I’m meant to finish up. In the race that is life sometimes I run, sometimes I walk, but still, sometimes I trudge. It’s like walking through a wind storm, head bent down to shelter my eyes from the stinging sand that tries to blind me.
But God would say He’s not done with me.
He’s not done with us.
Sometimes we walk in barren places. They feel devoid of purpose or passion, but wrought with pain. Recently I was feeling rather lacking of passion, questioning decisions I had made that led me to where I was. In my questioning, God answered. He spoke this into my barren places, and perhaps He speaks it to your barren, empty place now.
Where you are? It’s not an accident. Nothing is by chance. When you say that all things work for My good, you must believe it.
Your failures? Those mistakes or places where you feel you missed my mark; they don’t matter. Don’t waste another second of breath on them! I turn all missteps into miracles, chances to see my glory displayed.
“Look at my God,’” my children shout. “Only He could turn mess into majesty!”
I am working your life. Don’t forget it. Don’t be so busy looking back like Lot’s wife that your heart turns to stone. Look not even forward, but simply open your eyes to what’s around you.
This is where I’ve placed you. This is where you need to be right this moment, in this season. Ask, “what can I do here and now, oh God?” For it is plenty. Wondrous are the works I have for you. It isn’t by mistake you labor where you are, nor by fault of your own alone. I have predestined the plans I have for you.
Great is my faithfulness. For to serve me when your heart is in need, I bless. Blessed are you, my child. Your labor is not in vain. You are where I need you to be. I work all things, all situations, all locations, and even all limitations for good.
