Yesterday was a grueling day. The day started with a zoom session early in the morning then face to face sessions from 1:00 pm until 8:30 last night. Normally this isn’t an issue for me, but yesterday had two different sessions that truly got to my heart. One of them is a young man who is lost in his walk with God. For three years he was finding great victory serving Jesus as he thought was right. The carpet got pulled out from under him in each case and now he is so lost. He knows what the Word of God says, but somehow it doesn’t apply to him (in his mind/emotions). The other case is a marriage that is struggling intensely. I had met with the wife for three sessions and yesterday they both came. We seemed to make a little headway, but the tears and depth of hurt expressed reminded me SO MUCH of my first marriage ending.

In each of these cases I know very well that God is at work with them and I fully trust this. Both of them reminded me so much of my earlier life hurts. God has brought about tremendous healing for me from those times, but how it aches to see/witness someone else’s pain as they experience the cruelty of living life in this sinful world of ours.

Learning to let God be in complete control of one’s life takes a lifetime. We may think we are serving God well as we choose how this is done. However, God waits for us to finally see that He wants to make the plan we follow. And, the JOY of following His plan will finally be known. It is painful to learn this, but so worth it on the other side of the lesson.