“Making Friends With Whatever’s Next”

An old man lived alone in Idaho. He supported himself by growing potatoes in his large potato garden. One Spring morning, about planting time, he wanted to spade his potato garden, but it was very hard work. His only son Bubba, who used to help him, was in prison. The old man wrote a letter to his son and described his predicament.

Dear Bubba:

I am feeling pretty bad because it looks like I won’t be able to plant my potato garden this year. I’m just getting too old to be digging up a garden plot. If you were here, all my troubles would be over. I know you would dig the plot for me.

Love, Dad

A few days later, he received a letter from his son.

Dear Dad:

For goodness sake, Dad, don’t dig up that garden. That’s where I buried the BODIES.

Love, Bubba

At 4 a.m. the next morning, FBI agents and local Police showed up and dug up the entire area, but after they looked everywhere, they didn’t find any bodies. They apologized to the old man and left.
That same day, the old man received another letter from his son.

Dear Dad:

Go ahead and plant the potatoes now. It’s the best I could do under the circumstances.

Love, Bubba

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“These little troubles are getting us ready for an eternal glory that will make all our troubles seem like nothing” (2 Cor. 4:17 CEV).”

 

Make Friends With Whatever’s Next

 

“Embrace it. Accept it. Don’t resist it. Change is not only a part of life; change is a necessary part of God’s strategy. To use us to change the world, he alters our assignments.Gideon: from farmer to general; Mary: from peasant girl to the mother of Christ; Paul: from local rabbi to world evangelist. God transitioned Joseph from a baby brother to an Egyptian prince. He changed David from a a shepherd to a king. Peter wanted to fish the Sea of Galilee. God called him to lead the first church. God makes reassignments.

But, someone might ask, what about the tragic changes God permits? Some seasons make no sense…do such moments serve a purpose?

They do if we see them from an eternal perspective. What makes no sense in this life will make perfect sense in the next. I have proof: you in the womb.

I know you don’t remember this prenatal season, so let me remind you what happened during it. Every gestation day equipped you for your earthly life. Your bones solidified, your eyes developed, the umbilical cord transported nutrients into your growing frame…for what reason? So you might remain enwombed? Quite the contrary. Womb time equipped you for earth time, suited you up for your postpartum existence.

Some prenatal features went unused before birth. You grew a nose but didn’t breathe. Eyes developed, but could you see? Your tongue, toenails, and crop of hair served no function in your mother’s belly. But aren’t you glad you have them now?

Certain chapters in this life seem so unnecessary, like nostrils on the preborn. Suffering. Loneliness. Disease. Holocausts. Martyrdom. Monsoons. If we assume this world exists just for pregrave happiness, these atrocities disqualify it from doing so. But what if this earth is the womb? Might these challenges, severe as they may be, serve to prepare us, equip us for the world to come? As Paul wrote, “These little troubles are getting us ready for an eternal glory that will make all our troubles seem like nothing” (2 Cor. 4:17 CEV).”

 

—By Max Lucado in Fearless: Imagine Your Life Without Fear

                                                         

                                        

Lord, every single good gift comes from You…  

 (From James 1:7)   One Thousand Gifts   http://www.aholyexperience.com/
390. A precious family to love and be loved by

 391. All thanks and praise to my God for Whom there are no impossibilities, only limitless possibilities

 

392. Bit by bit gleaning eternal perspective:  the hard stuff about the trials I go through “that make no sense in this life but will make perfect sense in the next.  The proof: me in the womb” … “But what if this earth is the womb?” (Max Lucado)

 

393. Many recent lessons in the sweetness of “Giving thanks to God anyways… always … in everything.” (Voskamp) 

 

394. Learning to “make friends with whatever is next” (Fearless by Max Lucado)

 

395.  God opening my eyes to see Him scheduling and making me available for Divine Appointments