I know that I am in the middle of several weeks of Minister’s Reflections on the subject of marriage and I promise that I will return to that subject next week, but a few days I go I happened upon a message I thought worth sharing. A friends of mind, Amanda, with her own blog and podcast recently shared her testimony of how trust in God shows up for her.
God continues to remind me of one thing; He is the God who makes order out of chaos. When order is made it organically creates times of imposed waiting. Think of traffic - without a traffic light there would be chaos, it would be dangerous, there would be accidents and injury - even death...But, with the order imposed by a traffic light, seasons of waiting begin to occur - while you wait at a red light, another is given the green light to GO - there is even the tempering existence of the yellow light which forces you to slow down and prepare to stop. For me to stop and wait means another may go...it means I may rest, it means I must have patience, it means I am yielding to something other than myself...But most importantly when I am living in order and I stop at the command of the red light, I am not in control - I am not in charge. Our lives are riddled with systems of order...I am beginning to realise that God's order for my life is very much the same. When He slows me down or stops me - there is more at stake than only me, there is the order of His kingdom plan, the order He is making out of my heart, the order He is creating for another who has been waiting to be released to go...He is weaving the intricacies of His people’s lives together in strength, beauty, purpose, and plan through the order of The Master's perspective. He is the one who knows what He is creating. He knows when I should go, when I should slow down, and when I must to stop and wait. And so I wait while my Master is working...I trust while He stills my steps...I believe in His plans...I yield to His order. I will not worry or try to think what might happen past this current moment - because He is with me in the waiting and so I am exactly where I need to be.
Amanda’s words brought to mind a favourite teaching of the New Church:
Peace holds within itself trust in the Lord, the trust that He governs all things and provides all things, and that He leads towards an end that is good. When a person believes these things about Him, he is at peace. (Arcana Coelestia 8455)