I hope that today you are enjoying the loving laughter of family and eating more food than is technically good for you. But many are in a position where they are just struggling to find a warm place to land. Last night we had an intruder at the church. The young woman didn't come to do any harm, she was just looking for warmth. As I watched the police gently work with her, I couldn't help but wonder where her family was, and what circumstance had brought her to push her way into a closed church door.

In moments of lucidity, does she wonder what happened to get her so off track? I know that, while my life is fairly ordered and stable, I can't help but question whether I've done everything just the way God had planned. What if I had chosen differently? Would I have been richer, smarter, more successful or famous? I'm guessing these questions aren't one that I face on my own. Do you wonder sometimes if God’s will for your life is a big deep dark secret that you may never know? I struggle with embracing the fact that God’s will for my life is not only in the big picture, but in the small everyday details of my existence. And sometimes the road He chooses can be bumpy and rough.

We tend to want to make God a big mystery, full of grand gestures and miracles, gold dust falling from the sky for no apparent reason and grandiose and fathomless power. He is all that and more, but He is also the God who sees us as we are, and loves us anyway.

He’s the God who created the clouds and the cockroaches (both literally and metaphorically). He’s the God of the big and small blessings. We wonder where He could possibly be when our prayers aren’t answered in a miraculous and awe-inspiring way, all the while forgetting that He is continually answering our prayers, and attending to our needs, in small but mighty ways.

So often we ask God “why” something is happening, forgetting that He is looking at a huge picture and moving the puzzle pieces around for our good and for the good of everyone. We don’t always get to know “why.” But like 3-year old's, we will keep asking, driving ourselves crazy looking for an answer that may never come.

Why do bad things happen to good people? Why do good things happen to bad people? There may be no answer on this side, except one. We can always lean on the promises of God. His Word is His will. Proverbs 3:5-6 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and He will make straight your paths.” That straight path may be a long way ahead, but His hand is always guiding us in the right direction if we will just fill our minds with His perfect Word.

Peace is sometimes difficult to achieve, and even when we do find it, it can be hard to maintain. But if we remember that it’s not our will, but God’s will, we can rest in the assurance that He’s watching our every step and working out the details for our good. When you’re feeling weak, hang on to that promise. CeCe Wynans released a song a few years ago that says, in part:

His strength is perfect when our strength is gone

He’ll carry us when we can’t carry on

Raised in His power the weak become strong

His strength is perfect

His strength is perfect

Even in the hardship, God is the one who has the reins firmly in hand. Being in His will simply means seeking His will.  

Be blessed, my Friend.  God is on the throne.