This morning, my church’s new senior pastor spoke at the campus my family attends (my church has two campuses).
Before he got up to speak, we had our music worship time.
I don’t know how the music is where you attend, but my church’s contemporary worship team ROCKS it!
Christian music is so important to me.
It whispers God’s truths to me.
It soothes my soul when I’m troubled. The day after Aubie passed away, I heard a song on the radio that brought me to tears but comforted me at the same time.
The upbeat songs allow me to celebrate, exuberantly, God’s blessings and His mercy.
The songs this morning spoke words of affirmation and allowed me to express to the Lord how grateful I am for His most recent work in my life.
As you are aware, if you read my blog regularly, I have been struggling with something that happened the last week of school.
I have struggled with the anger and hurt that completely overwhelmed me.
But God has been so gracious, let me tell you.
Let me pause a moment to briefly tell you what the morning’s sermon was about, and then I will tie everything together.
We were told of Esther, a Jewish woman who became King Xerxes’s queen after he banished Queen Vashti. He didn’t know Esther was Jewish…only that she was more beautiful than any other woman paraded before him during the selection process.
In the meantime, Haman, an ambitious noble in King Xerxes’s court, had a vendetta against Esther’s uncle, Mordecai, who refused to pay homage to Haman. Haman figured out a way to get the king to send out an edict to have all Jewish people slaughtered.
Mordecai appealed to Esther, asking her to use her position as the queen to ask Xerxes to intervene and save the Jews. She refused, at first, but later acquiesced. In the meantime, Haman’s hatred for Mordecai increased, to the point where he planned to have him impaled upon a pole; however, through an uncanny set of circumstances, it was Haman who was impaled on the pole, and Mordecai’s name was heralded throughout the city.
One of my pastor’s themes of his message was that God purposely ordained every circumstance to advance His plans to save His chosen people.
My pastor said that nothing happens by accident but by God’s providence.
How does this relate to me and my recent introspection?
Looking at the timeline of what has happened since the issue at school…
It just so happened that school ended the same week as the “issue,” freeing me of the obligation of facing the people, on a daily basis, who had hurt me. This gave me much needed distance to process everything.
It just so happened that I worked my tail off and completed my ESOL class in under a week, leaving me free from further obligations so that I could rest.
It just so happened that I discovered a devotion series called Unglued on my phone’s Bible app, and each day’s words ministered to me greatly.
It just so happened that the last devotion mentioned a book titled Unglued: Making Wise Choices in the Midst of Raw Emotions, which I ordered the same day and began reading as soon as it arrived in the mail.
It just so happened that I had time each day to read one chapter. I chose not to read more than that at a time so I could process the wise words, smartly written…seemingly just for me.
It just so happened that chapter by chapter, my eyes were opened to the ways I process raw emotions, and I discovered healthier, scriptural-based ways of handling them.
It just so happened that Chicky and a local girl who will be attending Southeastern on a soccer scholarship (they will be teammates) have become good friends this summer. She attends our church. We have gotten to know her parents better as a result.
It just so happened that Chicky’s friend’s parents invited us to their small group, where the studies, seemingly random, have dealt with anger…letting go of the past…healing.
It just so happened that one of this morning’s worship songs talked about trials and praising God through them…
When I consider the things I’ve been through (and I realize they pale in comparison to the trials I’ve witnessed others go through), I am humbled by God’s merciful goodness and His never-ending presence.
I am so thankful for God’s timing…the way He orchestrates each event in my life…the way He uses the bad stuff to make me more like Him.
I’ve turned a couple of corners this summer. I’m not home yet…I don’t know that I will be home until I enter heaven…but I can say, with genuine joy, that it is well with my soul.
Filed under: Christian | Tagged: Christianity, It is Well With My Soul, Unglued |
AuburnChick's Adventures 
What a wonderful testimony. A friend and I were just talking about God being in control and no matter what happens to us (seemingly good or bad) it is all under His control and is ultimately for our good (according to His plan and will).
God’s been teaching me a lot in the last few months too. I’ve learned there is absolutely no security in this world in any area except only in Jesus. That the control I think I have is just an illusion. But if I’m His child, then I don’t need security or control, because He has it all in His hands and He has me there too.
As I’m typing this I’m listening to Pandora radio on my lunch break at work and guess what song is on. “It Is Well With My Soul” being sung by Sandi Patty. See, He’s even in control of the little details!