The Apostle Paul talks about life in the Spirit in Romans, chapters 8 and 9.  He says, “we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose…What then shall we say to these things?  If God is for us, who can be against us?...No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.  For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  He does not say this life will be easy.  He does not say that we will get whatever we want.  He does say that everything is working according to God’s purpose and that nothing can oppose God’s plan.  There is nothing that can separate us from Christ.

Sometimes life is hard.  Sometimes it’s not really hard, but we perceive it as such.  I think of times when I was young that I thought my parents were the worst people ever.  I still remember a night when I was a freshman in college.  My friend and I were planning to drive back to college that night after a weekend at home.  She didn’t get over to our house until well into the night.  My dad flatly refused to let me leave with her.  I cried and protested and generally threw a fit very unbecoming to someone on the cusp of adulthood.  Looking back, this almost seems to prove my immaturity and need for my father to step in.  Most of the drive was down long stretches of dark, rural roads, and, being the fall in Western New York State, there would be deer and other sorts of creatures out and about, and often in the roads that we would traverse.   My dad knew this, and he didn’t trust two young girls who were more inexperienced drivers to make that 2 hour car ride in the middle of the night.  He even sacrificed his own time to drive me back to school the next morning.  Life seemed really hard at that moment.  Other times in my life, by comparison, were much worse.  This moment wasn’t actually hard, it was just perceived to be so because things were not going the way I had planned.  Why did my dad refuse to let me ride with my friend?  He knew best and he wanted to make sure I made it back to school safely.  Our heavenly father is much the same way; he does things for our good.  We may go through some harrowing times that cause us to fall on our knees and seek the Lord.  We may question God, and wonder why he is allowing something to happen to us.  We may examine our life to see if our experience is a result of sin in our life, or ask if we are undergoing some sort of test to our faith.  While we may not like the situation in which we find ourselves, we can have hope knowing that whatever we go through is part of God’s plan and for his glory.  We may never know why we went through different trials, but we can know that it was all part of God’s plan.

Sometimes life is exquisite.  April 22, 2019 was a beautiful, sunny day in North Carolina.  I had to wake up early after several days of baking over 24 dozen cookies and a pie, but it was still an exciting and glorious day.  It was my wedding day.  I was marrying an amazing man with my family and close friends all around me.  There have been times in the past year that I have just marveled at all God has done.  I have a wonderful husband and two beautiful children.  I am in the place I’ve always wanted to be, staying home to teach my children and keep my home!  These times are times when we must be on guard as well.  It is easy for me to lose sight of my need for God when things are going according to my plan.  When I am happy and content, I may find myself drifting away from Christ.  The Apostle Paul tells us that nothing can actually separate us from Christ, but I sometimes feel distant.  It takes a more conscious effort on my part to remember to study God’s word and seek his face during these times of ease.

I am learning to see my need for Christ in both the happy times and the hard times.  I am learning to trust that whatever comes my way is part of God’s plan and for his glory. My goal, no matter the circumstances is to live up to the Apostle Paul’s admonition in Colossians 3:17, “And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”