Could It Get Worse?

Today was one of those days where I asked myself this question many times.  Really?  Seriously?  Wow!

A drive up river with downed trees, downed power lines only to discover that the person I was picking up today really didn't need a ride, but had no cell reception to tell me this until I was there at 6:30 for the pick up.  A corporate visit at work that didn't go well for me....even though I was the one doing things correctly and the person that got kudos was not.  A drive home that found me stuck behind a slow moving car from Idaho (no offense if you are from there.....just relaying the facts here).  A customer mad at me about the price of a gallon of paint (a common complaint these days).  A spray can making session that found me putting waterbased paint into a machine that requires oil based paint to make spray cans sue to another employee shaking the wrong kind of paint.  THREE clean-up sessions at the spray can station later and then the customer left because I apparently took to long to make his paint which left me with two spray cans and a partial gallon of paint that no one else will really want to buy.

I share all of this not to make you sad, make you appreciate your life, or make you feel bad for me nor to complain.....but rather to share with you the great joy I feel tonight as I realize that none of this is a surprise to the One who is really in charge here.

Think about it for a moment.  Do you remember a time, maybe even today, that you have felt like everytime you turn around there is something else....yes, even something worse....that is staring you in the face?  How I react in moments like this is what is important.  What I do, what I say, and how I react are the things that God is concerned with.  He already knows how I am going to react, what I am going to say, etc.  He knows it all and He loves me anyway!

It is with a less heavy heart tonight that I can say to Him, "Lord, I have no idea what the lesson here is, but I ask that You help me to find the point of it quickly and move on!"  What a relief when I turn things over to Him as they happen.  See, today, I was praying things like: "Father, may the truth be seen in this situation."  or "Father, help me to remain calm right now." or even, "Father, let me not take offense to that comment."  Rather than getting all "fired up" as I call it, I decided to let the Fire refine me.  At the end of the day....I am a better person and closer to my Father because of it.

Praising Him for being my comfort, my support, the holder of my identity, the One who sees me and loves me more than I will ever fathom!  Grateful tonight that I am my Beloved's and He is mine!   Looking forward to tomorrow....no matter how bad it gets.  Because when my focus is on Him, any bad can be made good!