God knows what's better for you

Proverbs 3:5-6 King James Version (KJV)

“Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”

Proverbs 3:5-6 New King James Version (NKJV)

^“5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; ⁶ In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall ^[a]direct your paths.” (Footnote on direct: make smooth or straight.)

Proverbs 3:5-6 New Living Translation (NLT)

“5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding.

6 Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.”

You are probably wondering why I have the same verse from Proverbs in three translations. Well, it’s pretty simple actually. My favorite verse of the bible just sounds best in the King James version. The language is beautiful. But, the New Living Translation really hits home for me. For me, my paraphrase that I have to always keep in mind is, “Trust God, don’t worry about not understanding. Seek God’s will and he’ll show you where to go from here.” (The Rebekah Paraphrased Translation For Mental Reminders of Proverbs 3:5-6.) Yes, yes. I’m not a biblical scholar. But this is the mental reminder that I have to give myself. Why? Well, it’s just good practice, positive thinking and all. But, it’s also so true. I’ve got a little story for you on how God really does work in your life if you truly submit to His will and take God at His Word. I’ll try to keep it short.

So, in 2017, my husband had just come back from deployment and he was on leave. While on leave, we found out that he had received orders…for drill sgt. We were like ,”NOOOOOO...well, if we have to, we have to.” So, we found out he was slotted for one post that didn’t have the necessary medical access that our kids need. This we fought. We gathered the information and then had a really awesome Sergeant Major that wrote some letters for us to get our next duty station switched to one with better access to care. We were granted the switch. So, if that’s where the story ended, we would be in South Carolina right now, close to the beach, close to Charleston, having a blast (not…it’s drill sgt…no one likes those two years.) But God had other plans. You see, you have to fill out a packet and get a whole bunch of signatures to finish the process. And one woman, who I still have a hard time forgiving her, decided that she was going to deny my husband (which does not look good for his career) his chance at drill because of a couple things, one being she didn’t think the family could take it because we have two autistic kids. Drill is the next, natural progression of his rank. This was going to hurt my husband! She offered to talk to me, and I would have, but my husband basically told her it wouldn’t be a good idea. It would not have been. His career would have been over and I would have been arrested. That’s just the honest truth.

So, those orders were in the process of being canceled when I finally convinced my husband to go ahead and call Branch (read this as a military HR department), and see what assignments are open to us. It was time to move on. When he called, there were many positions opened. Korea, Alaska, upstate NY…and this one assignment. A posh assignment. One we didn’t even know existed. Small post, closer to family. MUCH closer to my husband’s family. And it’s a non-deployable position. My husband jumped on it. He was approved by the accepting post (where we are now), and we started getting ready for a move…to Pennsylvania for two years. 

I started looking for a house to rent in the area. We had family look at a couple of houses, but really only one stood out to us. A house that just happened to be ADA compliant. I thought, “Mom and dad can come visit!!” I called the gentleman, and he was ecstatic, to make a long story short. His wife used to work at the college where my husband was going to be working. He even wrote my parents into the lease agreement just in case they needed to stay for a while if worse came to worse! Little did we know that it would. That we would use that provision. 

Now to the point of this post: But GOD knew what was coming. He knew where we needed to be. He knew that the best thing for our family was not somewhere else, but in Pennsylvania. He took what the army had messed up, what the army had to offer, and set our feet on a path that would benefit and bless. And bless it has. Not even a year has gone by and we have been so blessed. 

Blessings aren’t ALWAYS fun or easy. We’ve been here through a family member’s cancer and recovery and through my parents having to live with us for a few months so that I could help take care of them. My husband also made the promotion list. Turns out this assignment, coupled with the evaluation reports and my husband’s upstanding record, is a great career step. One that got him noticed by the Master Sergeant board. We’ve also started a local program for autistic children in the summer, I’ve become involved with the praise ministry at a church nearby, and my husband has had time to spend with the family and work on his degree, which is a major goal of his. 

All this reminds me of another verse, Romans 8:28 states, “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.”

I am ashamed to say that I was super mad at God for allowing the drill sergeant orders to fall through. But a friend of mine back in Tennessee said, “He’s a big God, He can take it.” (Thanks to Katie A. for that one.) If I had just trusted God then, I would not have gotten mad, but said, “Your Will, not mine.” 

And now, we are back to the waiting game for orders. And we still have our wish list. But I’ve learned something: Trust God. He will send us where we are needed, and where WE need to be.

It’s not an easy task, to trust this Big God. We often want to be in control. I HATE not being able to control everything. My compensation is that when things get out of control and I can’t do anything about it but pray, I decide to do something that I CAN control. Like my hair. It will get cut, or colored, or both. And tattoos. I feel a new one coming on soon. Just got to finish the design and get to where I love it. 

I know this post isn’t a profound one on the surface, but I urge you to STOP what you are doing, THINK about your past and how it has affected your future, and PRAY that God shows you where he “directed your path.” Do you see it? Do you see how He gently prodded (or shoved you) onto a path? Was there a moment that He showed up in a big way and sent you forward into the unknown, into a place where blessings happened? Trust me. If you are a Christian, these things have happened. Sometimes they are subtle, but sometimes His ways truly stick out like a marquee sign that says, “Here’s your sign!!” in blinking, neon lights. Start paying attention to the little things that make/made your life fall into place. It’s amazing to see God work. 

Songs to consider:      “Thy Will” by Hillary Scott

                                    “I Will Follow” by Jeremy Camp