Holding on When You Want to Let GoSýnishorn

Day One

What Happened?

Scripture: Psalm 143:4-7; John 5:17

When you think about your story, are you living the life you imagined? Perhaps some days, when you have time to take a deep breath, you hardly recognize yourself in the mirror and you wonder, What happened? When life takes unexpected turns, it’s easy to feel as if everything is out of control; you feel alone, afraid. When God seems silent, do you wonder if you’ve messed up? 

Or perhaps it’s more like that infuriating feeling you get when you’ve spent hours putting a jigsaw puzzle together only to discover that a couple of pieces are missing. You search under the rugs, in the dog’s mouth. You threaten your entire family with no food for a week if they’re hiding the pieces, but they’re gone. 

I’m learning, though, that the missing pieces in our lives are not gone forever. They reappear at unexpected moments, and even when it hurts for them to be put back in place, the picture is so much clearer when they are.

Jesus tells us, “My Father is always working, and so am I” (John 5:17). Life does not give us a quick fix, but God is always moving, always working, always aware of the big picture. Even now, God is tenderly holding your missing pieces.

I have no idea what’s going on in your life as you read these words. What I do know is that we will all face challenges, heartaches, things we didn’t see coming. There will be moments when we wish we could rewrite chapters of our stories. But God has been writing our stories from the very beginning. Life is not out of control, even when it feels as if it is. I promise you that.

It’s my prayer that God will show you in ways that are significant and meaningful to you that He is with you. I pray that you will know that He is working in ways you might not see at the moment, that even when you have to let go of something you love, you are being held by the One who loves you and will never let you go. 

Father God, when I feel like pieces of my life are missing forever, help me to trust that you will put my life back together again. Amen.