The Lord Satisfies our Needs in the Unknown

The last few weeks have been hard for me. I’ve been praying for a way out of this valley and that God would deliver me on the other side. I found myself trying to satisfy my timing rather than waiting on God’s. Maybe if I work hard enough, I’ll get to where I desire to be when I prefer to be there.

I did everything in my control to ensure I got the position. I prayed about both outcomes and thanked God for the opportunity regardless of how it turned out. I was so confident I had landed the job that I hadn’t truly prepared myself for not getting it.

During these times of scarcity, emptiness, and uncertainty, I feel myself retreating to my old ways– where my purpose languishes and my soul wanders. I grasp at entertainment or the wrong people and places to fill the void where God should eternally be.

When surrounded by earthly needs, I realize my greatest need has been and will always be the Lord. He’s the one who fills my cup when it’s running empty (Psalm 23). He renews my strength when I run weary (Isaiah 40:31). Jesus gives me rest when I’m heavy laden (Matthew 11:28-30).

We aren’t supposed to simply drape our burdens at God’s feet; we are to lay them at His feet. When things aren’t going our way, it might be because we haven’t fully surrendered our life to Him. We haven’t fully let go of everything that consumes us daily.

A relationship with God can’t involve one foot in the world and one foot in Christ. Jesus is our anchor to God and will guide us through the flood of worldly pull and sin back to our Father.

I tend to refrain from sharing my feelings and emotions with others when I’m struggling internally. But when it comes to God, I know I can be free with him. He welcomes my broken prayers. He invites me from the mess into His strength and peace. He offers a safe place to completely submit my fears, burdens, and worries about tomorrow. Before I even pray, He already knows it all. 

Our fears become defenseless in the power of God’s promises. Our worries and doubts about the future become paralyzed whenever we let God be the rightful author of our futures.

My whole world is in His hands. As soon as I think I know better than God, I’m humbled in all the ways that bring me back closer to Him. As life gets busier and more chaotic, my center shifts to the things of this world. Realignment back to the One who knew me first and knows me best is a daily decision.

God has been pursuing me from the moment I took my first breath. Even when I don’t feel or see God working, the ceaseless everyday blessings remind me that He is. If God feeds and watches over the sparrows, how much more does He value and love us? If God dresses the lilies of the field, how much more will He clothe you and me?

In Matthew 6:33, We are instructed that if we “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, all these things shall be added to you.” 

If we take the time to focus on everything we have instead of everything that we don’t, we approach our life from a place of abundance, not scarcity. God walks by us in our valleys and at our peaks. He knows what we’ve gone through and what we will go through. He understands that weight and pain.

God deserves the fullness of what we can give, not the scraps of our days. It’s sad to think that the God who gave us everything sometimes goes days without receiving anything from us. When we make room for God in our lives–

Our perspectives concerning our hardships transform. 

Our joy is restored. 

Our peace is sustained.

Even though I didn’t get the job, it doesn’t mean God isn’t in the midst of my unknown. He sheds light on the places I can’t yet see. He offers opportunities that I didn’t think of before. I’m holding on to the promises that say I’m His and the reminder that in Him, “goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life” (Psalm 23:6).