You saw me before I was born.
Every day of my life was recorded in your book.
Every moment was laid out
before a single day had passed.
We have been studying Lisa Harper’s recently released Bible study, Job: A Story of Unlike Joy, in our women’s group. Little did I know how apropos it would be! I was a bit nervous because many of the women had never heard of Lisa and who wants to study Job? But God. He knew the hearts of those that would attend and the hurting places in each of us that needed healing.
As part of the daily assignment, I have been reading Psalm 139. When I think of that Psalm, the verses about the forming of life in the mother’s womb immediately come to mind from my days of working in the pro-life community. But as I read it each day, different parts stand out as the Spirit highlights them in my life.
The last few months have not been the easiest. I don’t know why I think I should get a pass from pain and problems — no one does. But in those difficulties, God has become very real and precious. It’s encouraging to know that He knew what these days would look like before I was born and each step that I have walked has prepared me for today. It was not a surprise to Him.
Job didn’t deserve the suffering and heartache he endured. But in the end, “when God is all you have, God is all you need.” God elevated him and trusted him because He knew how the story would end. Satan may have thought he could get Job to turn away from God, but God knew that Job would remain faithful.
Whatever your story, God will redeem it for good because God is good all the time. Trust Him.
‘God will redeem your story’. Wow. That really helps me right now. I’m sitting here hurting. It is constant, nagging, distracting pain in my neck (no pun intended HA!) and down my arm. How I wish that it was gone. My hope is in God that the surgery will be successful and the pain I’ve had for so long will be gone. Completely. But in the meantime, God has already redeemed that pain. At our small group meeting, do you recall one man telling me, “You inspire me, how you keep on going, preparing this Bible study and leading it?” Boy, that really surprised me. Almost embarrassed me. Why didn’t it dawn on me right in that moment that I could openly give God the glory? I didn’t even realize that it was God working all along through my pain. I wonder if Paul, with his “thorn in the side” knew that his pain would be redeemed too. I know that God knows the why, the how, and that my pain can bring Him glory, if I pay attention and don’t get lost in my pain.