Messy and Hard {Pondered Pages}

I love this quote from Paul David Tripp:

Yes, your life is messy and hard, but that's not a failure of God's plan--it is His plan. God is working to complete what He's begun in you.

It comes from Philippians 1:6:

Being confident of this very thing, that He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.
 

So often, we spin our wheels waiting for the current trial to end to get back to "real life", to "normal". The truth is that the messy, hard parts are real life. They are normal. They are God's work in our life to make us who He wants us to be. 

 For more, see The Detour is Actually the Road.  

Supplies used: Freezer paper, patterned paper, various letter stickers, Pilot G-2 pen. 

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In Other Words ~ "All is Well"

I'm excited to have the opportunity to host this week's In "Other" Words! We we would love to hear your thoughts on this week's quote. To join us, after you have posted on your blog, come back here and add your permalink (the link to your In "Other" Words post, not the main page of your blog, please :)) to Mr. Linky below. If you don't have a blog, you can leave your thoughts in the comments here. For more information about In "Other" Words, please visit Loni at Writing Canvas.

“Believer . . .

banish your fears;

cast out all doubts;

lift up the happy head;

clap the exulting hands;

rejoice;

give thanks.

Your heavenly Father cannot set you in wrong place.

Your loving Savior cannot lead you in wrong paths.

All is well.”

~ Henry Law

"All is well."

But is all well?

It certainly doesn't seem like it at times. In fact, it often seems as though things are as far from "well" as they can get.

The past few years have been filled with circumstances that seem very "unwell", for us and so many others we know. Not just sad things, but truly tragic, horrific things...things that rank up there as people's worst nightmares, only these aren't nightmares, they are "real life".

During these times, I have seen, over and over, people rejoicing and giving thanks~albeit often through tears~for God's sovereignty and goodness. I have seen, over and over, people acknowledging that although the circumstances they are facing are horrific, God is in control, and all is well. I have seen people choosing to "cast out all doubt", and have learned the importance of making that choice myself...although it is still sometimes a daily or even hourly struggle. During the circumstances our family has faced in the past few years, I have learned more deeply and certainly than ever before that "Your heavenly Father cannot set you in wrong place. Your loving Savior cannot lead you in wrong paths." Through the most difficult events in our lives, God's goodness and love have become more sure to me than ever.

We recently watched the movie "Last Flight Out" by Billy Graham's World Wide Pictures. (Excellent movie, by the way!) In the movie, the agnostic pilot who has gone to South America to rescue his former fiancee, who is now a missionary in a village that has been taken over by dangerous drug lords, asks Mateo, a missionary doctor in the village, why he would stay in such a dangerous place, especially since he could be living a life of ease as a physician in the States. Mateo replies, “My safety is of no concern. There is no better place to be than in the center of God’s will.”

That has been one of the prime lessons God has taught me in the past few years. "There is no better place to be than in the center of God's will." No matter how dark, how tragic, or how truly evil that place seems to be, if God has put us there, there is no mistake, He is good, His ways are perfect, and all is well.