I used to think that I had everything all figured out. I thought I knew what I wanted out of life. Who I wanted. How I wanted them. And when I wanted them. But in releasing my expectations into the hands of the Creator, I find myself much more satisfied; content. I can remember a time when I would exhaust myself trying to be on every set, doing what I thought was my best to be everything to everybody. I ended up drained and resentful; disappointed and discouraged. I got to a place of surrender after my house caught fire, one daughter was diagnosed with a heart condition, and the other with a thyroid condition. I lost a longtime friend, a job, and my home within a span of weeks. To say the very least, I was undone. Like most people, in the midst of turmoil, I cried out to God. I would use my car as my prayer closet; riding to quiet places where I could be alone and really speak to God. I thought he wasn't listening to me. Maybe it was me that wasn't listening to him. I was all but ready to give up and then one day while driving, I saw a rainbow. It was huge and it covered the sky revealing a spectacular array of beautiful pastels. It warmed me in a way that I can hardly explain. It was like the arms of God reaching down out of the sky and encompassing me; comforting me and quieting my anxious mind. I immediately let go of my problems and began to see them as windows of opportunity. I think now, "what if I hadn't LOOKED UP into the sky that day?" The rainbow reminded me that God is the author and finisher of all things. It brought back to memory promises that He has made to me about my life and the lives of my children.
I am not done yet. It is NOT over. In fact, now that everything has been torn down, the rebuilding can begin. I am seeing him rebuilding and restoring. When everything is falling apart around us, it is hard to remember that God is still working. Everything is not always what it seems. God had to clear some things, some mindsets, even some people out of my life in order to give me the things for which I had been praying. I couldn't be mad about my house. I had asked him to take me from being a renter, to a home owner. Now the door is wide open for that to happen. I couldn't stress over the sickness in my children. I had asked him to make believers out of them as well. How else would they come to trust him, if they never had to lean on him for themselves? I asked God to teach me how to be a good friend and he challenged me in the friendship that I valued the most. I can't be mad. I asked him and yet I have
no control over how he performs a thing. I can only pray that a rainbow will manifest itself even in that situation. I asked him to make me a business owner, and in the midst of this struggle he has opened a door for me to do exactly what I asked. How could I ever doubt? He is faithful.
The most I can hope for you today is that when everything around you seems to come crashing down, you will remember that sometimes what we are looking at is just an illusion.
Stop looking at the illusion, and look for the rainbow.
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