Wanderings...

Wanderings...

where will you wander to today?                      

Have you ever thought about the wanderings of your life?  Places your feet and heart have taken you. The paths you have walked and some you still walk daily, weekly, hourly.

These wanderings are what the Lord has on my heart today - all the wanderings of my life.  Some of these wanderings have taken me next door in sweet fellowship with a neighbor, other wanderings have taken me around the world on missions I could have never imagined. And some wanderings led me far from Him.

My wanderings today take me to Myrtle Beach, SC.   The highway is covered with water. A storm is blowing through, crossing this wandering of mine.  The sky, breaking open and unleashing its heavy load of moisture on everything in its path.  The wind sways the Long Leaf Pines back and forth.  With their limbs outstretched they seem to point me farther down the road of this wandering.  

The windshield wipers frantically swish back and forth doing their best to push aside the rain so I can see the road clearly. Like this storm, the storms in our lives can blur our vision of the path God has for us and can lead us wandering away from Him.   That is exactly what the enemy wants to do ~ bring a storm into our life that blurs our vision, takes our focus off Christ and causes us to wander down paths that God never intended us to travel. What these wanderings costs us in the end is always more than we ever thought of paying.

Storms and wanderings can come in many shapes and sizes:

 

It was the storm of fear that led Peter to wander and deny Christ leaving him ashamed and broken.

 

It was the storm of lust that led David to wander and call for Bathsheba to be brought to him. His wandering led to the death of an innocent man, his son and punishment on the nation of Israel. 

 

 It was the storm of doubt and distrust that caused Adam and Eve to wander, listening to the serpent and taking of the forbidden fruit. Their wandering from God caused them to be cast out of the Garden of Eden and it threw the entire world into sin.

 

What about you? Have the storms of your wanderings left you broken, shattered, feeling alone, unloved, unaccepted and unwelcome?  If that be the case, I have good news for you. 

King David himself writes these words in Psalm 56:8 when he is crying out to God while going through a particular storm in his wanderings.   

Listen to his words:

    “You number my wanderings;
       Put my tears into Your bottle;
       Are they not in Your book?”

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The first thing David did was recognize that God had complete control over his wanderings.  God knew every care and concern and He had not ignored them.  David knew that his Lord was trustworthy and faithful.  He knew that God was for him.

Secondly, David didn’t accept what this particular storm in his life was unleashing. We don’t have to accept them either.  We can know, that no matter what the storm may bring...God has purpose in it for us and He is there walking through it with us. He is a purposeful God, not a purpose-less God.  No matter what storms may blow through our lives, He will never leave us.  He is there watching over our every step. One day He will pour out all our tears and wipe them away.  There will be no more sorrow and no more tears (Revelation 21:4).  Doesn't that just make you want to shout!!

Until that day ~ when our wanderings are threatened to be flooded, covered over by passing storms, we can lay down like the open fields that wait for what the storms bring ~ life giving water.  Storms bring nourishment and life-giving water to the soil of the field in order to bring forth a bountiful harvest.  That's what storms can do in our wanderings too. They bring the chisel of God into our lives that shapes and mold us more into His image.  God uses these storms so we too can bring forth a bountiful harvest.  That's God's plan for you and for me. 

Storms can leave us battered and bruised or they can leave us blessed.   Choose to let the rains of your wanderings leave you soaked with His love and sprouting fruit of a good harvest for Him. 

May all your wanderings this day, this week, this year find you ~

       Wandering Close to Him!

Blessings,

Kathy