“I don’t want to look back on my life — my beautiful, wonder-filled, God-given life — and realize that I’ve mostly missed it while I was busy preparing for the worst.”- Nicole Zasowski, licensed marriage and family therapist
“Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is the tree of life.”- Proverbs 13:12 (ESV)
“When it’s not God’s time, you can’t force it. When it is God’s time, you can’t stop it.”- Craig Groeschel, senior pastor of Life.Church
In Chapter 3 (“God is Good: Are You Ready to Trust Him?”) of Closer Than Your Next Breath, Susie Larson cites a woman named Maria, who Susie refers to as a six-foot angel. Through her prayer ministry, Maria prays alongside Susie in her healing journey.
At some point, Maria boldly proclaimed to Susie:
“If you’re not living with a holy expectancy that God is up to something great, even when life is hard — especially when life is hard — then something is out of alignment with you. Your core beliefs need to be based on God’s Word, not your experiences. God is only and always good. . . . He wants to shut down the inroads where the Enemy has had repeated access to steal from you.”
Certainly, Susie acknowledges, we miss much of God’s goodness when life weighs us down. In addition, it’s natural to develop habits and certain beliefs around our experiences. Therefore, this may result when life knocks us around enough. Without even thinking about it, we may subtly shift our expectancy from God. Instead, we place it on our own ability to protect and deliver ourselves.
Hence, Susie observes, that’s a natural human response to life on a fallen planet. But that response only leaves us exhausted and disillusioned. With our eyes looking downward. Rather than upward. Thus, Susie stresses the importance of renewing our minds and framing our trials from a faith perspective.
Today’s question: When do you find yourself busy preparing for the worst? Please share.
Tomorrow’s blog: “Renewed mind, faith perspective”