The decisions we must make on this spaghetti junction of life

 “All praise to the God and Father of our Master, Jesus the Messiah! Father of all mercy! God of all healing counsel! He comes alongside us when we go through hard times, and before you know it, He brings us alongside someone else who is going through hard times so that we can be there for that person just as God was there for us.” (II Corinthians 1:3-4

I was thinking our lives are filled with a gazillion and one decision's we must make just to navigate this life.  Picture, in your minds a super expressway in the biggest city you've traveled to- LA, New York, Seattle, Hongkong, Toyko- well, you get the picture. You know how complicated it was to get to destinations, missing turns and doubling back while little voices in the backseat screaming 'we just drove by Disney land!'

When we were kids, our parents mapped out where we could go and who we could see, but as we progress through life more of those decisions were being left for us to make. I remember the first time I took behind the wheel training and wondering how scary it was being on the highway with those BIG trucks and fast cars and the snap decisions I had to make- turn right, turn left, take the cloverleaf, merge left, merge right, take the bypass. 

 In a sense, our lives are filled with those same split second decisions. The good news is God wants to help you make those decisions.  

To those who are drowning in sorrow, He wants to come alongside you and help you ride the waves of grief. He assures us just as he reminds us in II Corinthians,. “All praise to the God and Father of our Master, Jesus the Messiah! Father of all mercy! God of all healing counsel! He comes alongside us when we go through hard times, and before you know it, He brings us alongside someone else who is going through hard times so that we can be there for that person just as God was there for us.” (II Corinthians 1:3-4 the message bible)
One of my earlier prayers shortly after our daughter died included these words, " Father, help me raise my son and help my family rise from the depths of this sorrow." Through each day, I saw God's tender mercies flowing out to us in little ways. Like a 500 piece jigsaw puzzle, our lives were being put back together. God assures all of us traveling through difficult times that he will put your life back together.

You don't have to go through life playing superhero. God has a plan for each of our lives, and his plan began when His son was sacrificed for us all and rose again from the dead and is alive to everyone who welcomes Him into their hearts.

 The gift of his holy spirit becomes the gentle voice within that helps us with those hairpin decisions.

In time, you may look down at the once scattered pieces of your life and see a beautiful portrait. God assures us that he will take the messiness of our lives and slowly put it back together.

Then, one day God will use your once 'scattered' life to encourage another life drowning in sorrow.

Now that is good news!