Recently I had two major events going on at the same time. One was wonderful. One was hard. Both the occasions and the timing of them were part of God's sovereign plan. While I was in Missoula celebrating my Dad's 90th birthday, my husband was at home dealing with our son's relapse. Though his binge was well funded and serious, I was not feeling stressed, though it seemed I should be.
I would like to think it was because:
- through decades of experiencing God's faithfulness, I have learned to trust Him.
- I increasingly rest in the safety of God's sovereignty.
- I trusted God's timing in having me in Missoula and Reed at home.
- I see even the setbacks as part of a larger plan.
- I knew my husband could grow through handling it without me.
- God provided the distraction of the birthday celebration and intended for me to enjoy it.
- The Bible repeatedly demonstrates that God uses sin just as easily as obedience to accomplish His purpose.
- our recent study of "Trusting God, Even When Life Hurts", strengthened my faith.
- I am growing up spiritually.
I was not too upset about the obnoxious drunk who kept getting into our house because he is a stranger to me. I don't even know him. I certainly did not want him at our family party, either drunk or hung over. But when my sober son asked his dad when they were leaving for Missoula, that broke my heart, because that was my son talking, and I really wanted my son to be there. Blackout had stolen an entire day from his life. And God used that to break his heart and help him on the path to sobriety. We are all responsible for our own actions, but we are fools to think we are revising God's plans because of them. With guidance from his addiction counselor, we are following a plan for relapse. I am not stressed, but I find myself reluctant to share that with other Christians. Almost as if I need to apologize for not carrying my share of the stress load. I would like to think a Christian at peace is the norm, not the exception.
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