April 24, 2018
When It Feels Like God is NoWhere
Elisa Pulliam
Today’s Truth
The Lord will work out His plans for my life—for Your faithful love, O Lord, endures forever. Don’t abandon me, for You made me (Psalm 138:8, NLT).
Friend to Friend
If you would have told me twenty years ago that I would one day find myself in a weekly dance class again, I wouldn’t have believed you. Back then, I was still grieving and fussing over the way my knee injuries disrupted my dreams and stole my passions.
My mom enrolled me in my first dance class when I was three and by the time I was 10, I was fitted for my first pointe shoes. Although tap and jazz were more my thing, those pointe shoes represented so much potential until a series of knee dislocations and a failed surgery ended my dream of becoming a Rockette. I buried my sorrow as I went on living my “Plan B” life, until that night when I had another freak dislocation while gallivanting around Paris during a rendezvous weekend while studying abroad in London. I lay on that cold, foreign, isolated x-ray table, screaming at God for the first time, ultimately believing He was the cosmic killjoy of the universe. The “It’s not fair!” tape played over and over again in my head as I had to make the trip back from Paris to London and hobble around on crutches, missing classes and having to forgo a hiking trip to Wales.
Have you ever felt like God has been more about the business of re-routing your life rather than ordering it? Do you feel like there is a roadblock at every turn? That just when things are getting good, something else happens . . . and it looks like God is no where in sight?
When I thought God was NOwhere, He was actually NOWhere.
God was there with me throughout all those freak accidents. He was there with me in London and Paris. He was wooing me towards Him, but it took another trial to make me look upward . . . from that x-ray table.
In that forced slow-down, I had a showdown with God.
He showed up in my life when I was at my lowest, utterly broken, disillusioned, and desperate. That is when I came to meet Jesus as my Lord and Savior.
I didn’t end up at the foot of the cross all put together and with all the right answers. I showed up in need of a Redeemer and Rescuer . . . the Messiah, Jesus Christ. Through the pain my eyes were opened. The blinders fell away. And in Christ, I found life anew.
What a gift to discover that God takes us at our worst and transforms us into His best.
No, my dreams of dancing with the Rockettes never came to be. But twenty plus years later, I somehow have enough strength to shake it up in a dance class squeezed into a schedule packed with all the things God has ordained for me — like telling others about the transforming power of Jesus and the hope we find in Him not only on this earth . . . where suffering is real and loss happens everyday . . . but an unshakable hope and the promise of eternity is for those who declare that Jesus is their Lord.
Let’s Pray
Dear Lord, thank You that when we think You are nowhere, You are now here with us. We may not be able to see Your face. We may not recognize Your voice. But You are present. Thank You that when we look back on our stories, we’ll be able to see Your provisions and plans in a fresh new way. Help us to trust You with Your purposes for today.
In Jesus’ Name,
Amen.
Now It’s Your Turn
What plans have you made that God has re-routed? Can you see His provisions looking back? If not, would you be willing to talk with Him about His purposes and yield to His future plans?
More from the Girlfriends
Longing to see God’s plans and purposes for your life with a fresh perspective? Elisa is about the business of doing just that in her devotional book, Unblinded Faith: Gaining Spiritual Sight Through Believing God’s Word. Join her on a 90-day journey through the Scriptures to discover how embracing the Truth will fill you with unshakable hope.
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