Blindsided. We’ve all had it happen. Something comes seemingly from out of nowhere and hits us, hard. Death, sickness, job loss, failing grades, broken relationships, weight gain. But seriously, some things we truly didn’t see coming and then there are other things that we chose not to see. I mean when I mindlessly eat pizza and ice cream on Friday night I shouldn’t be surprised that the scale is up on Saturday morning and yet there I stand in disbelief. When we’re blindsided we get pushed back or even down. The air is knocked out of us. The world seems to spin faster and nothing seems safe and predictable. We question everything, what did we miss? How did we not see this coming? What are we going to do? We roll through emotions of sadness, anger, betrayal, fear.
We were recently blindsided, and not for the first time in our lives. In previous blindsiding incidents I didn’t hang out in sadness for long before I found myself living in the land of anger, disbelief and fear. That decision almost destroyed me. So when this life changing news found it’s way to my doorstep once again, I had a decision to make. Would I allow this to stand in the way of what God is ready to do in my life? Us being blindsided does NOT mean that God has been blindsided. While we are caught off-guard wondering – what now? God already has the answer. But when I set up camp in the valley of despair I believe that we postpone His plan of redemption.
So I closed my eyes, took a deep breathe and as calmly as I could told myself – “Do not freak out. God’s got a plan. Do not freak out.” Over and over my legs shaking, the tears welling, my thoughts racing. My husband finally asked, ‘are you okay?’ All I could say was, “I’m trying to not freak out.” And I didn’t. I’m happy to say in that moment, I didn’t completely lose it. Now since then, I’ve had some less than stellar moments (fear seems to be the reigning champion of blindsiding, it can hit you out of nowhere) but right then I was fighting a battle and I won.
I still don’t know why our situation is what it is right now. I still don’t know all of God’s plan. I certainly don’t know how everything’s going to work out but I do know that it will. I was talking with a friend last week and telling her how God gave me a word about being a destined arrow. That we are all arrows in His hands – He has a plan and a destiny for each and every one of us. When an archer shoots an arrow He has looked ahead at the desired target and chosen the best path, the right trajectory and made a plan to get that arrow to where it needs to be. Then my friend reminded me that before an arrow can soar it must be pulled back. Oh that hit my heart hard. I am definitely feeling the tension and pain of being pulled back and set into position. But I can trust Him.
Are you in that place of being pulled back? Where it seems like you’re moving backward and farther from your dreams? Hold tight, be at peace. He is positioning you to be able to soar.
I leave you with these words from Proverbs – “Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don’t try to figure out everything on your own. Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; He’s the one who will keep you on track.”
~Becky
