July is now past, and August has begun. How fast the days of July flew past, as every month of the year tends to do. I am going to take a moment to look back on July, however, and its significance to me. On July 30, 1971, fifty-two years ago I became a blushing bride for the first time. In spite of my remarriage eight and a half years after Wayne's homegoing to heaven, I will always remember that day. I also remember with joy our 39 years of marriage. On July 13, 2019, four years ago, Bob and I were married. I look back on the joy each of us felt on that day. We have faced some new outside challenges this past year, but we remain committed to each other.
These were joyful moments in July in the past, and now this year there were difficult moments in July. I have had back issues for many years, but in July as in the months before July of this year I have had some more major back flare-up issues. Through a series of events including contacting my regular doctor and her ordering an MRI, I saw a spine specialist on July 31rst. I fully expected him to suggest surgery, but because of my scoliosis complicating things, surgery would involve a recovery period that was too long.
Hence, the doctor recommended doing an epidural instead. By God's grace I was able to receive that epidural only two days later on August 2nd. By the morning of the next day I was beginning to notice a difference for the good. My back is still feeling very vulnerable, and there still are issues, but I am very thankful for God's grace in all this.
There were and are also uncertainties in all this. Epidurals, for example, are only a temporary solution at best. Yet God is the God of the unknown. The future is not unknown to Him and He will lead. We all need to remember that we are blessed no matter what is going on in our lives at the time.
At this point I am going to quote a fairly long passage from Lysa Ter Keurst's book, Seeing Beautiful Again. This is what Lysa writes I think it applies beautifully here to our discussion:
"I feel the most unsettled when I'm uncertain about the future. I suspect many of you are also facing circumstances that have left you feeling caught off guard and unsure about what tomorrow holds---There are thousands of scenarios that evoke these feelings of uncertainty, fear, and exhaustion from life not being like you thought it should be.
Whatever your situation is, you probably feel like you can't change it, but you still have to live through the realities of what's happening right now. Sometimes you just have to walk in your 'I don't know.'---All this trouble is exhausting. Walking in the 'I don't know' is scary.---But what if life settling down and all your disappointments going away would be the worst thing that could happen to you? What if your 'I don't know' is helping you, not hurting you?
The crucial detail for us to have peace in the middle of everything we face is to stay close to the Lord. We think we want comfort in the I-don't know times of life. But comfort isn't a solution to seek; rather it is a byproduct we'll reap when we stay close to the Lord.
I wish I could promise you that everything's going to turn out like you're hoping it will. I can't, of course. But what I can promise you is that God is close to us even in our 'I don't knows.' God has lessons for us that are crucially important for our future, and we are learning them in the middle of our 'I don't knows.' God has a strength He must prepare us with, and the training ground is here in the 'I don't know.' This time isn't a waste, and it is definitely not pointless when we are walking with God.
Let's cry out to God, declaring that this hard time will be a holy time, a close-to God time. And let's choose to believe that there is good happening, even in these places. Because wherever God is, good is being worked."
(If you missed my post last week about God being the Potter and we being the clay, you can read it by cliking on this link: https://christiancaregiving.blogspot.com/2023/07/the-potter.html )
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