I don’t know about you, but this has been a rough week for me.  The elections aside (and yes, I am so glad they are in the rearview mirror), the week just didn’t go as I had planned. Primarily,  I’ve been “confined” for the past three days with a bad cold.  Let’s just say that I am not a good patient.  I don’t like being sick, and I especially don’t like having my plans thwarted.  (Ex:  I’m writing this blog from my couch instead of attending worship this morning.)  But, in the end, good has once again come out of what I perceived as a bad situation.

Those who know me well can attest to the fact that I love to be on the go.  I fill my days with breakfasts with friends, grocery shopping, appointments, Bible studies, lunches with family, banking, BJ’s runs, meal prep, visits with the parents, etc.  I don’t allow much room in my schedule for down time.  And, it would seem, every time my schedule gets a bit too frenzied (which is actually how I like it) God, in His infinite wisdom, throws up a stop sign.  Those stop signs most often come in the form of injuries and illnesses that require rest for healing.  Now, I know what you’re thinking:  God hurts me to quiet me?  No, but He ALLOWS those things in my life to slow me down.  (And quite honestly, sometimes I unwittingly bring them on myself.)

In retrospect, this week’s illness actually came at an ideal time.  Sounds crazy, I know.  But it’s true.  I realize now that I’d been pushing myself too hard.  In September, I began working as a beta-tester for a friend who was starting an on-line personal training business.  When I say “working” I mean that literally, because I took a very hardline approach to my new fitness regime.  No missed workouts, no excuses, and always trying to do more than required.  I was determined to be my friend’s biggest success story.  This dedication (or obsession as Jeff calls it) was a bit over the top, and it ended up backfiring.  My weight loss slowed as I overtaxed my body on a limited supply of calories.  I was losing inches, which was good, but the scale stubbornly refused to go below a certain point for over three weeks, which had me majorly frustrated.  Then I got sick.  Two days on the couch and the scale showed an improbable drop.  What?  Yep, rest and recovery equaled weight loss.  (Can I just say that my trainer tried to tell me this?)  And I wonder how my boys ended up being so bullheaded?

But that was the least of what God is showing me.  Foremost, I had time to sit and work on my Bible study.  While on vacation, I got behind in my Beth Moore homework.  (Yes, my cousin Janice and I really did ride our bikes up and down the entire 8 mile-long island, in addition to watching the sun rise on our beach walks every morning.  It was lovely, but exhausting.  I needed to rest after our “vacation,” which indeed was, as defined, “an extended period of recreation.”) Anyway, I wasn’t troubled about getting behind.  I knew I would get the assignments finished, and be ready for our next video lesson.  Or so I thought.  Coming home from 10 days away entails a whole lot more than catching up on my homework assignments.  After another 10 days of frenzied activity, my overtaxed body shut down and I got sick.

Which brings me to how God’s timing is always perfect.  I couldn’t help but smile and shake my head yesterday as I sat working through another of my missed assignments.  This particular lesson, entitled “A Painful Deliverance,” would have meant so much less to me while on vacation.  But after this week (and yes, the election), it was fraught with imperatives that I needed to hear:  First, our feelings and perceptions cannot be the basis of our faith.  Our feelings will deceive us because they are based on what we can see.  And truly, we can’t see the “big picture.”  Only God can.  So we need to trust Him to know what’s best.  Second, faith comes from listening!  But how can I listen to God when I’m always on the go?  The Word of God is always true and God always keeps His promises.  But if I’m not taking the time to be in God’s Word and know His promises, they offer no assurance to me.  Third, God’s deliverance may come from “this ship running aground.”  This was true for Paul in Acts 27, and it’s true for me today.  Heavy winds and raging seas do not always mean I’m on the wrong course.  Sometimes I run aground on the island of God’s will because He couldn’t get me there any other way!  (Think illness and couch, or a painful election.)  And finally, God always has a destination in mind, a place where, once I have been faithful to who He is, He will show me what He can do.  The waters may be rough, and I may have to toss a few things overboard to keep from sinking (i.e. an overloaded schedule or my perception of our new president-elect), but I can believe God WILL deliver me, even in the midst of “Plan B.”  When I release God from my preconceived notions of what I think He should do, my eyes are opened.  All it takes to behold a miracle is to see God do something only He can do!  And don’t we see that all the time if we’re looking?

So, all of that to say, we CAN have peace in troubled times because GOD IS IN CONTROL.  Not only in the lives of His children, but in the future of our nation. God uses flawed individuals to fulfill His plan.  And, after all, we’re all flawed.  But as Homer said “I know not what the future holds, but I know who holds the future.”  Amen.

(Items in italics are direct quotes from Beth Moore’s study “Living Beyond Yourself.”)