Life Under Construction

As I write this, I cannot use my garage.  The reason I cannot use my garage is that I cannot drive to my house.  The reason I cannot drive to my house is that the street on which the parsonage is located is blocked off due to some work on the street.  I expect it to be blocked off for a couple of days.  The best I can do is park on the street about a half block away and walk to my house.

Now, a walk of a half block is not a big deal.  It is an inconvenience, though.  I can’t say I like it much.  I know the work that’s being done on the street is necessary.  I know that, eventually, the street will be better for the work that’s being done on it.  I know I’ll be better off, too, for having a better street to drive on every day.  But right now, it’s annoying.  I don’t want to have to wait two days before I can use my garage again.  I want to be able to use it now.

It seems to me our relationship with God works like that sometimes.  There are times when it seems like God is not allowing us to do the things we want to do.  We don’t like that very much.  We may know that God has reasons for not allowing us to do those things.  We may know that the situation will ultimately be better for us not doing them.  We may even know that we will be better off for not doing them.  But at the time, we find it very annoying.  We don’t want to have to wait to do the things we want to do.  We want to be able to do them now.

That’s where trust comes into it.  Even though I’m annoyed by not being able to drive to my garage, I trust that the city knows what it’s doing.  I trust that the people in charge of the street work know what they’re doing, too.  And so, even if I’m not totally pleased about the situation, I’m not upset about it, either.  I trust that, in the end, things are going to work out for the best.

We need to trust God in that same way.  Even if we’re annoyed by not being able to do what we want to do, we need to trust that God knows what God is doing.  We may not be totally pleased about the situation, and that’s okay, but we should not be upset about it, either.  We need to trust that, in the end, God is going to work things out for the best.

No matter what is happening, God has promised to never leave us or abandon us.  We can trust God’s promises.