The Things I Can't Do Anything About

I will never forget the women's retreat I attended soon after miscarrying our first child and watching all my friends continue in their pregnancies and then give birth to their children.  I heard a message by Carolyn Mahaney at that retreat that changed my life. At the time it seemed clear that the Lord put me there to hear that message to prepare me for the difficult months ahead. Now as I look back though, I see that God's perfect plan was so much greater than I realized at the time.  God was using that message to prepare me for the rest of my life.

At the retreat, Carolyn gave a message from John 21:15-22 called "What To Do About The Things We Can't Do Anything About".  In it, she talked about how Jesus told Peter what kind of death he was going to die.  Then, when Peter asked about John, Jesus said, "What is that to you?  You follow me."

Jesus was letting Peter know that there would be things that would happen in his life that he would not want to happen but that he wouldn't be able to do anything about.  The same is true for us - things happen in our lives that we didn't choose and that we don't want and that we can't change.  But, we know that God has assigned these unwanted experiences in our lives and that they have been assigned by Him in order to glorify God.

When we are tempted to sinfully compare our lives with others in those times, Jesus' answer to us is the same - stop looking at others and look to Jesus, the one who can give us grace in full measure. Sinful comparison destroys our peace and distorts our view of a wise and loving God.  But if we keep our eyes on the Lord and follow Him, we will fulfill the purpose for which these trials were assigned to us, which is to glorify Him.

We should rejoice when we join in the sufferings of Christ, that we might be filled with joy when His glory is revealed.

So, while it is still hard sometimes to look around and see others living lives that in my eyes seem to have everything while my life seems full of hardship, I am grateful that Jesus' words to Peter apply to me as well. Jesus knows that I do not need His sympathy while I wallow in self-pity.  I need a command, because the one thing I need to be able to walk through this is to follow Him.  And when I am following Him, then I will be able to see His abundant mercy and grace that have been poured out on me.  Once I have seen my loving and faithful Savior, then I will be able to rejoice when I join in His sufferings, that I might be filled with joy when His glory is revealed.