I met a new friend at church a couple of weeks ago, enjoyed a very long and lovely coffee with her a few days later, and quickly realized what a blessing from God she already was in my life. We’re both looking forward to more precious times together. She feels like someone I’ve known for years.
As I reflected on this new friendship, I was reminded, once again, of how God has chosen to bless my life and, in many ways, fill it with women who can truly do “life” with me –mutual encouragers and supporters along the way.
One of the themes you’ve likely heard or read from me before is the challenge of having virtually no close family nearby. The relationships most people would consider their closest – parents, siblings, spouse, children, grandkids – are not part of my day-to-day world. There are times when the absence of those relationships is felt deeply and painfully.
And yet I also say, only slightly joking, “Sometimes that’s a good thing!” I do know family and other close relationships are often accompanied by their share of challenges.
I often summarize this reality in my life by stating, “I don’t really have family here, but God has given me great friends.”
With this newest addition to my friend world (sorry for sounding technical!), I began to wonder how many other ways God might be working similarly in your life. How has he surprised you with a relationship, a skill, or a new direction that brought unexpected joy and satisfaction?
It’s similar to the biblical concept we discuss here often – how God does his best and most permanent work in our lives through our trials. Absolutely true, but today’s thought has a slightly different twist.
I’m thinking specifically about how God’s substitute for what’s missing in our lives is uniquely and perfectly designed to bring us joy.
As the image portrays, it doesn’t say, “Look what God fixed.” It says, “Look where God showed up.”
I don’t know all the circumstances in your life that have caused you to grieve what you either no longer have, or perhaps never had, but I’d like to share some examples and encourage you to do your own reflection. I pray God opens your eyes to blessings you may never have identified as such before. Starting with one of my own:
- The closeness that often comes with immediate family members has been provided – substituted – through deeply satisfying friendships.
- The pain of childlessness or wayward children has been softened through involvement in a ministry – mentoring young men or women, serving in nursery, or teaching Sunday School.
- A skill that once defined much of who you were has now been lost due to age, health challenges or accidents. But God has brought a new focus through a job or new hobby that brings unexpected satisfaction.
- Fostering children or animals provides an outlet for your nurturing spirit where none existed before.
- A career that you expected to last for years was suddenly stripped away. But God revealed a new direction that proved infinitely more satisfying than anything in your past.
This barely scratches the surface of ways God can bring fulfillment where we assumed there would only be emptiness. As our Creator, he intimately understands what makes us tick, and knows exactly how to bring the perfect “substitute” into our lives – one that leads to even deeper satisfaction.
So often these substitutions are subtle, and we barely notice them. Other times, we can be so focused on what we’ve lost, or never had, that we miss God’s love and kindness in this process.
My prayer is that you begin to see how God has grown beautiful flowers in places where you least expected them. May that awareness lead us to gratitude, not only for the gifts, but for the Giver who loves us enough to place those blessings gently into our lives.
No good thing does he withhold…
Psalm 84:11