I Could Never!!!

What are your "could never's"? You know those things we mutter in our hearts, declare to our closest confidant and beg God to never let happen.

You could never...
~ live like "that"
~ succumb to "that" addiction
~ be married to a spouse like "that"
~ deal with infertility
~ have a large household or any kids at all
~ handle the loss of a child
~ forgive "that"
~ raise a disabled child

And yet these things happen.  They have happened to me.  Either we swim or drown and I have had my fair share of drownings.

And sometimes swimming is only treading... sometimes it looks more like floundering.  But at least your head is above water and you are still breathing.

How can we bless His name when He takes (Job 1:21)?  How can we still rejoice when "the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls" (Habakkuk 3:17-18)?

It is definitely a habit and a practice to develop - a continual re-focusing of "God is good, God loves me, God knows what's best for me and I will CHOOSE to trust Him".  Where do we learn this habit?  In the daily, in the mundane, in the mileu.

When you can't find your keys.... "God is good.  He loves me.  He knows what is best for me and I will trust Him".

When your car breaks down..."God is good.  He loves me.  He knows what is best for me and I will trust Him".

When your bills exceed your paycheck... "God is good.  He loves me.  He knows what is best for me and I will trust Him".

Faithful in little becomes faithful in much (Luke 16:10).  Every trifling nuisance, inconvenience, irritation becomes training ground for how you will handle the larger stuff.   "Counting it all joy when you meet trials of various kinds" (James 1:2-4) is the weight you are being asked to lift and lift again and lift again until your muscles are shaky so that next time you are asked to lift a heavier weight it will not seem so intimidating.  Being faithful to respond with joy, humility and gratitude to minute issues will definitely help you to respond that way to things that knock the wind out of you.

So next time I get frustrated to be picking up an never ending mess or get cut off by an inconsiderate driver it truly is a vital training exercise put in front of me.  How I respond to the "little" will train me for the "bigger".

Still have some "I could never's"?  Careful, God may be preparing you for those right now.