I used to be afraid to fly. The sudden little bumps in the air and the strange noises from the belly of the plane used to unnerve me. That all suddenly changed on a flight from Dulles International to Los Angeles.
Sitting, preflight, on a DC-10 and fidgeting nervously with my seatbelt, a man in the seat next to me leaned over and said, “You are exactly where you are supposed to be.” I do not know who he was—an angel or a godly human being—but from that moment on, flying was not nearly as traumatic as it used to be. In fact, I began to enjoy the exhilaration of takeoff and the joy of looking out the window and seeing the earth below.
Sitting on my porch one recent morning I began thinking about how I have seen God’s hand guiding and leading loved ones to where they are today. Letting go of what they thought they were supposed to be doing and letting God take over and lead them instead, they have come to the marvelous place of knowing they are exactly where they are supposed to be. As delighted as I am for them, it made me ask the question, “Lord, am I where You want me to be?”
This last year (and especially these past few months) has taken me on quite the roller coaster ride. I have witnessed first-hand how the Lord has walked before and behind, shocking me with His lavish love especially when I realize how much I have failed to trust in His faithfulness, mercy, and grace.
We all have a past we wish was never part of us. Add in our present struggle with sin we desperately want to be rid of and it isn’t long before the fear that we are not where we are supposed to be—that we can never get there again—has begun to move in. We start living in the lie we are beyond the boundaries of God’s love, goodness, and faithfulness.
Nothing could be further from the truth. For He tells us all we need to do is to bring the sin into His light. Taking responsibility for it, when we confess it, He forgives and cleanses the stain of it from our hearts and places us back on the path of His will. And if we aren’t truly repentant, the Lord will—in His grace—reveal that also. And when He does, we can confess that too and ask Him for the gift of repentance.
God is so good all the time. He gives us what we need when we come to Him just as we are. When we get to the place where we realize we are sunk without Him, because of His faithfulness, mercy, and grace, He takes us exactly to where we are supposed to be.
God is our refuge and strength,
A very present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear,
Even though the earth be removed,
And though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;
Though its waters roar and be troubled,
Though the mountains shake with its swelling. SelahThere is a river whose streams shall make glad the city of God,
The holy place of the tabernacle of the Most High.
God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved;
God shall help her, just at the break of dawn.
The nations raged, the kingdoms were moved;
He uttered His voice, the earth melted.The Lord of hosts is with us;
The God of Jacob is our refuge. SelahCome, behold the works of the Lord,
Who has made desolations in the earth.
He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;
He breaks the bow and cuts the spear in two;
He burns the chariot in the fire.Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!The Lord of hosts is with us;
Psalm 46 (nkjv)
The God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah
-Kimberly
