“Some people come into our lives and quickly go away…Some stay for awhile and leave footprints on our hearts…And we are never, ever the same.”
Unknown
God has a plan. All things move toward the completion of his purpose. Those of us who believe are a part of that purpose and each of us has things that God intends for us to do while we live and breathe. Therefore, God has a plan for us survivors. He is not only in control of the things that befall us, and can comfort us as we struggle, but he also has a plan for us as we move on.
You cannot predict how God’s plan for you will unfold. One thing you can count on, however, is that he will use people to help you along the way. Oh, I suppose some individuals have great visions and dreams at times, but typically it is one or more persons he will put in your path that will play a large role in helping you bring down some of those walls and see the bigger picture. That’s what happened to me.
My years in the ministry were, for the most part, good years. I was committed and focused. I made many friends, preached, performed weddings and funerals, counseled with countless hurting people, all the while fighting my own demons. I was living what I believed to be God’s plan for my life.
It’s remarkable how one mistake can change everything. Suddenly it seemed that there was no longer a “God’s plan for my life.” I was going it alone with no one to turn to and nowhere to go.
One very special friend and his wife (my only friends in the world, I thought at the time) were my sanctuary. Mike, a friend since long before I ever entered the ministry, and his wife, Colleen, opened their hearts and the door of their home to me. And that, it turns out, was God’s hand at work, although I didn’t realize it at the time.
The thought that God might still have plans for me was the farthest thing from my mind. I was in full bore survival mode, unlike ever before. And I would stay there for nearly three years.
Maybe that is where you are. The blows you have taken have left you uninterested in the things of God and unable to conceive of any plan he might have for you. Anger, hurt, and resentment are emotions that make it difficult to see beyond the moment.
There is a verse of Scripture that I love and quoted frequently in my ministry: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”[i]
This is the believing survivor’s mantra. It allows us to have hope that no matter how bad things seem to be, God will make something good come of it.
Another person came along a couple of years after I left the ministry that had a brief but powerful influence on me. She was a total stranger. I was working at my job at a big retail store one evening when a couple appeared in the department next to mine. I dutifully approached them and asked if I could help them. We proceeded to chat for a few moments when the woman suddenly looked at me and said, “You don’t look like you belong working here.”
“I get that a lot,” I replied with a grin.
Then she absolutely blew me away. She said, “You look like you would be a great pastor.”
I have never been so stunned. I stammered a little as I replied, “As a matter of fact I was a preacher for fifteen years.”
“Why aren’t you doing that anymore?” she asked. I babbled out some sort of explanation about “burnout” or something. Then she said, “You need to go back to that. You’ve got a great gift and need to be using it. You have helped many people.”
My life in the ministry “flashed before my eyes”and I was visibly shaken by the whole experience. Looking back on it, I would say that was a turning point for me. There were no major changes, but I did begin to start thinking that maybe, just maybe… God wasn’t through with me.
My friends Mike and Colleen (who will always, even into eternity, hold a very special place in my heart) and a complete stranger (who I don’t even know her name) were people that God used in my life during some years of intense survival mode. They helped me not only survive, but to begin to think that there might actually be life beyond just surviving.
There were no fireworks or storms or explosions or voices from Heaven. Only people. He used them to open a very small crack in the walls of The Fortress and get my heart ready for the next phase of my life.
There is someone out there sent by God himself just for you. Are you watching?
[i] Romans 8:28
