Some Things Just Don't Make Sense. But Then Again...

Tonight I have been reminded of something so vitally important in our life here on earth. It is that no matter how hard we try, no matter what we think, God has a plan for us. It is His plan. Yes, if we ask it shall be opened. But it will still be in His way and in His time. There are some people that believe that if you believe hard enough with your mind and connect it just perfect with your heart that you can bring your will to pass. Some people would define that as faith. In my experience, however, sometimes faith means allowing the laws of God to take place. That means that sometimes science, nature, life, and death some time are just the required result. Now, I believe in miracles! I believe that He can over-rule the law. However, if that happens it is because it is part of His plan.

Does that mean that prayer is useless? Does that mean that hope is for naught and without fruit? No. It just means that in the end we must realize that there is One who sees the whole picture. From beginning to eternity. One who, though humanly incomprehensible, has no malice or negative intention toward us in any way, shape, or form. One who has a perfect love for us. So when we pray and plead with our Father to give us our hearts desire. Eventually we must resign ourselves to the fact that if we changed His mind by our endless pleadings, wouldn't that mean that we asked Him to change the perfect plan for our life? Maybe as hard and seemingly impossible as it may feel, we should pray not for a change of plan, but for the courage, peace, and patience required to accept the jigsaw-plan that we see here until we can see the full picture later.

Sometimes it feels impossible to find joy in the circumstances that we're in. Impossible to see the perfectness in "the plan." It just makes no sense. In fact, sometimes it feels as if God himself is out to get us. Sometimes we feel like something has to change or be fixed before we can find peace in the journey.  And these are the times when the human soul is tried to its core. Refined. Do we wait until we reach our destination and miss the whole point of our human existence? Or do we surrender our humanness and allow him to show us the beauty along the way? That my friend's is a question that only we can decide the answer to for ourselves.

THE STATION

By Robert J. Hastings

         TUCKED AWAY in our subconscious minds is an idyllic vision in which we see ourselves
on a long journey that spans an entire continent. We're traveling by train and, from the 
windows, we drink in the passing scenes of cars on nearby highways, of children waving at
crossings, of cattle grazing in distant pastures, of smoke pouring from power plants, of row
upon row upon row of cotton and corn and wheat, of flatlands and valleys, of city skylines and
village halls.

    But uppermost in our conscious minds is our final destination--for at a certain hour and on a
given day, our train will finally pull into the station with bells ringing, flags waving, and bands
playing. And once that day comes, so many wonderful dreams will come true. So restlessly, we
pace the aisles and count the miles, peering ahead, waiting, waiting, waiting for the station.

    "Yes, when we reach the station, that will be it!" we promise ourselves. "When we're 
eighteen. . . win that promotion. . . put the last kid through college. . . buy that 450SL 
Mercedes-Benz. . . have a nest egg for retirement!"

    From that day on we will all live happily ever after.

    Sooner or later, however, we must realize there is no station in this life, no one earthly
place to arrive at once and for all. The journey is the joy. The station is an illusion--it
constantly outdistances us. Yesterday's a memory, tomorrow's a dream. Yesterday belongs to a
history, tomorrow belongs to God. Yesterday's a fading sunset, tomorrow's a faint sunrise. Only
today is there light enough to love and live.

    So, gently close the door on yesterday and throw the key away. It isn't the burdens of today 
that drive men mad, but rather regret over yesterday and the fear of tomorrow. Regret and
fear are twin thieves who would rob us of today.

    "Relish the moment" is a good motto, especially when coupled with Psalm 118:24, "This is
the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it."

     So stop pacing the aisles and counting the miles. Instead, swim more rivers, climb more
mountains, kiss more babies, count more stars. Laugh more and cry less. Go barefoot oftener.
Eat more ice cream. Ride more merry-go-rounds. Watch more sunsets. Life must be lived as we
go along. The station will come soon enough.